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Haridraa (Turmeric) ( Curcuma longa ) Introduction   For more than 6000 years Haridraa AKA Turmeric ( Curcuma longa ) has been used as ‘medicine’ in Ayurveda and Ancient Egypt. The distinct reference of Haridraa being used as ‘medicine’ is documented in Ayurveda. It was then prescribed to charm away (ward off, cast away) jaundice. Reference to its medicinal use can also be found in the text        of Yaajnavalkyasamhitaa (4000 BC) written at the time of Raamaayana.     Since time ancient, though it was used as a medicinal plant in India, in Assyrian civilization (about 2600 BC) it was    used not as a medicinal plant but as a coloring agent. To the ancients it was not a spice but a remedy for many     ailments and a coloring agent. Haridraa (Turmeric) attained the special importance with the discovery that the powder  of its rhizome when added to food preparations, preserved their freshness and nutritive value. It might have been then introduced in cooking for preservation