Turmeric in the context of Polyphenol

The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices, such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric, were known and used in antiquity and traded in the Eastern World. These spices found their way into the Near East before the beginning of the Christian era, with fantastic tales hiding their true sources.

The maritime aspect of the trade was dominated by the Austronesian peoples in Southeast Asia, namely the ancient Indonesian sailors who established routes from Southeast Asia to Sri Lanka and India (and later China) by 1500 BC. These goods were then transported by land toward the Mediterranean and the Greco-Roman world via the incense route and the Roman–India routes by Indian and Persian traders. The Austronesian maritime trade lanes later expanded into the Middle East and eastern Africa by the 1st millennium AD, resulting in the Austronesian colonization of Madagascar.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of leaves) about one metre tall, bearing narrow leaf blades. The inflorescences bear flowers having pale yellow petals with purple edges, and arise directly from the rhizome on separate shoots.

Ginger is in the family Zingiberaceae, which also includes turmeric (Curcuma longa), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), and galangal. Ginger originated in Maritime Southeast Asia and was likely domesticated first by the Austronesian peoples. It was transported with them throughout the Indo-Pacific during the Austronesian expansion (c. 5,000 BP), reaching as far as Hawaii. Ginger is one of the first spices to have been exported from Asia, arriving in Europe with the spice trade, and was used by ancient Greeks and Romans. The distantly related dicots in the genus Asarum are commonly called wild ginger because of their similar taste.

Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant, which may be the white/yellow mustard (Sinapis alba), brown mustard (Brassica juncea), or black mustard (Rhamphospermum nigrum).

The whole, ground, cracked, or bruised mustard seeds are mixed with water, vinegar, lemon juice, wine, or other liquids, salt, and often other flavourings and spices, to create a paste or sauce ranging in colour from bright yellow to dark brown. The seed itself has a strong, pungent, and somewhat bitter taste. The taste of mustard condiments ranges from sweet to spicy.

Indian spices include a variety of spices grown across the Indian subcontinent (a sub-region of South Asia). With different climates in different parts of the country, India produces a variety of spices, many of which are native to the subcontinent. Others were imported from similar climates and have since been cultivated locally for centuries. Pepper, turmeric, cardamom, and cumin are some examples of Indian spices.

Spices are used in different forms: whole, chopped, ground, roasted, sautéed, fried, and as a topping. They blend food to extract the nutrients and bind them in a palatable form. Some spices are added at the end as a flavouring — those are typically heated in a pan with ghee (Indian clarified butter) or cooking oil before being added to a dish. Lighter spices are added last, and spices with strong flavour should be added first. "Curry" refers to any dish in Indian cuisine that contains several spices blended together, whether dry or with a gravy base. However, it also refers to curry leaves, commonly used in South India.

Zingiberaceae, the ginger family, is a family of flowering plants containing 58 genera and about 1600 described species distributed globally in the tropics and subtropics. They are aromatic perennial herbs with creeping rhizomes, sometimes tuberous. Many of the family's species are important ornamental, spice, or medicinal plants. Ornamental genera include the shell gingers (Alpinia), Curcuma, Hedychium, Kaempferia, and torch-gingers (Etlingera). Spices include ginger (Zingiber officinale), Thai ginger (Alpinia galanga and others), melegueta pepper (Aframomum melegueta), myoga (Zingiber mioga), korarima (Aframomum corrorima), turmeric (Curcuma), and cardamom (Amomum and Elettaria species).

Galangal (/ˈɡæləŋˌɡæl/) is a rhizome of plants in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, with culinary and medicinal uses originating in Indonesia. It is one of four species in the genus Alpinia, and is known for its pungent, aromatic flavor.

Greater galangal (Alpinia galanga) is most commonly used, and is similar to ginger and turmeric. It is native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Lesser galangal (Alpinia officinarum) and other types are also used, though less frequently. In traditional medicine, galangal is used to treat various ailments. It is a common ingredient in Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, and is also used in some traditional Chinese medicine.

In plant taxonomy, commelinids (originally commelinoids) is a clade of flowering plants within the monocots, distinguished by having cell walls containing ferulic acid. Well-known commelinids include palms and relatives (order Arecales), dayflowers, spiderworts, kangaroo paws, and water hyacinth (order Commelinales), grasses, bromeliads, rushes, and sedges (order Poales), ginger, cardamom, turmeric, galangal, bananas, plantains, pineapples, and bird of paradise flower (order Zingiberales).

The commelinids are the only clade that the APG IV system has informally named within the monocots. The remaining monocots are a paraphyletic unit. Also known as the commelinid monocots it forms one of three groupings within the monocots, and the final branch; the other two groups are the alismatid monocots and the lilioid monocots.

Curcumin is a bright yellow chemical produced by plants of the Curcuma longa species. It is the principal curcuminoid of turmeric (Curcuma longa), a member of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is sold as an herbal supplement, cosmetics ingredient, food flavoring, and food coloring.