Why turmeric is one of the best superfoods documented by modern science

( Natural News ) People have thought that antibiotics could make bacterial infections a thing of the past. These days, however, the drugs are far from being the silver bullet against bacterial infection; in fact, antibiotics have given rise to an even bigger problem. In particular, bacteria that have survived antibiotic treatment have started to develop a resistance to it, making them stronger and more difficult to kill. Because of this, researchers are now turning to nature for a solution to this problem. A group of Indian researchers found a potential answer to this dilemma in turmeric, a superfood with various biological activities . Turmeric is a perennial plant widely used in Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha medicine. The rhizome, which most people are familiar with, is commonly used in cooking as a food additive, preservative, and coloring agent. Aside from these, it is also used for different religious rituals. The rhizomes contain different compounds including curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. Among these, the yellow pigment curcumin is considered the main active ingredient of turmeric. It is associated with different biological activities, including antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiprotozoal, insecticidal, and wound healing effects. Although the benefits of turmeric rhizomes have been studied the most, that doesn’t mean that the other parts of the plant have no use. In this study, which was published in the Pharmacognosy Journal , the researchers collected extracts from the leaves and rhizomes of turmeric and compared their antimicrobial activities. They used four different bacterial species including Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, which are both gram-positive, and the gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The authors observed that both extracts were effective against P. aeruginosa and B. subtilis while only the rhizome extracts worked on S. aureus . Moreover, extracts from the rhizome also exhibited more potent […]

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