Variation in yield of curcumin and yield and quality of leaf and rhizome essential oils among Indian land races of turmeric Curcuma longa L.

Abstract

A set of 84 accessions of turmeric Curcuma longa L. collected from various geographical locations in northern India were assessed for variation in morphological features, leaf and rhizome essential oil content, yield and quality, curcumin content in rhizome and curcumin yield and potential for curcumin extraction from rhizomes, following their distillation for essential oil extraction. Large variability was recorded in all the features studied. The accessions demonstrated wide variation in the contents of -terpenene, 1, 8-cineole and -cymene in the leaf essential oils and of pinene, myrcene, Ar-curcumene and turmerones in the rhizome essential oils. There were some accessions which were highly deficient in one or more terpenoids in their leaf and/or rhizome essential oil. The leaf oils of the accessions CH-2 and CH-3, CH-15, CH-38, CH-40 and CH-53 were deficient in -cymene and Ar-turmerones, Ar-curcumene and Ar-turmerone, Ar-turmerone and -turmerone, Ar-curcumene and Ar-turmerone and -turmerone and Ar-curcumene and all turmerones, respectively. The rhizome essential oil of the accession CH-14 was highly rich in turmerones and that of CH-99 was deficient in turmerones, respectively. The accessions CH-6, CH-11 and CH-19 were identified as high yielding elite resource for both curcumin and leaf oil. The possibility of profitable extraction of curcumin from the essential oil extracted rhizomes was demonstrated.