HERO HERB

The pandemic years have witnessed a boom in the production and export of the humble underground stem called turmeric, along with a renewal of interest among the scientific community in the spice’s therapeutic qualities, especially against COVID-19. VIBHA VARSHNEY reports why inclusion of the household herb in our daily diet is a healthy idea

- VIBHA VARSHNEY

THERE IS no disease against which turmeric has not been tested,” says G Padmanaban, former director of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. The spice used in households across the subcontinent is the only natural source of curcumin—the compound that gives turmeric its golden hue and its fabled healing qualities. Turmeric (Curcuma longa), native to India, has been studied extensively for its effects against viral diseases in recent decades, but the covid-19 pandemic has renewed interest in the spice and in curcumin, both of which have been tested as a treatment for the viral disease, with encouraging results. Sample these:

In a covid-19 hospital in Maharashtra, patients who received a combination of 525 mg of curcumin and 2.5 mg of piperine (naturally occurring complex organic molecules containing nitrogen) twice a day, recovered faster from symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, and breathlessness. They were able to maintain oxygen saturation above 94 per cent on ambient air, and had better clinical outcomes compared to control group members who received a probiotic instead. The treatment also reduced the duration of hospitalisation and resulted in fewer deaths, researchers report in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology published on May 28, 2021. In another study, researchers in Iran observed the efficacy of curcumin in the form of nanoparticles on 21 patients. The results showed that most of the common symptoms of covid-19 resolved significantly faster in the curcumin group. The treatment group did not need as much oxygen supplementation and had reduced stays in the hospital compared to the control group. Patients in the treatment group did not experience deterioration of infection during the follow-up period, while 40 per cent of the control group did, the researchers report in the journal Phytotherapy Research on January 3, 2021.