Tumeric

Turmeric, also called curcumin, has been used in Asian cookery for thousands of years. Powder ground from the dried root is an ingredient in curry. Turmeric is one of the cheaper spices and makes a vivid splash of color, so it gets heaped into low-market curry blends as fill. Not such a bad idea.

Turmeric holds a high place in Ayurvedic medicine as a "cleanser of the body" and today science is finding a growing list of diseased conditions which turmeric's active ingredient heals. Broad interest in curcumin's antiinflammatory effects is increasing.