Table 1: Pharmacological activity of different turmeric extract types.
| Activity | Petrol Ether Extract | 50% HA Extract | Isolated Curcumin/Curcuminat | Water Extract |
| choleretic/cholecinetic | + | ++ | +++ | |
| antihepatotoxic | +++ | +++ | ||
| antihyperlipidemic | +++ | +++ | ||
| anti-inflammatory | +++ | + | + | +++ |
| antioxidative | +++ | ++ | ||
| anticarcinogenic | ++ | ++ | ++ | |
| antimicrobial | +++ | ++ | + | |
| antiviral | ++ | ++ | ||
| repelling | +++ | + |
Table 2: Main constituents of C. longa and C. xanthorrhiza rhizomes.
| Activity | C. longa | C. xanthorrhiza |
| curcuminoid content (%) | 2-6 | 0,8-2 |
| curcuminoid compos | curcumin (diferuloyl methane) mono-desmethoxy c. (p-coumaroylferuloyl methane) di-desmethoxy c. (di-p-coumaroyl methane) |
curcumin (diferuloyl methane) mono-desmethoxy c. (p-coumaroylferuloyl methane) |
| essential oil content (%) | 2-6 | 2-6 |
| essential oil composition | ar-turmerone a-turmerone b-turmerone |
ar-curcumene b-curcumene xanthorrhizol (hydroxy-ar-curcumene) |
Table 3: Content of valuable constituents in dried curcuma fingers.
| essent. oil (%) | oil composition | curcumins (%) | |
| C. longa, Pharm.Spec | > 3 | - | > 3 |
| C. longa, China 1 | 3,25 | 68% turmerones | 2,1 |
| C. longa, China 2 | 3,30 | - | - |
| C. longa, China 3 | 3,8 | 70% turmerones | 2,8 |
| C. longa, Indon. | 5,0 | - | - |
| C. longa, India 1 | - | - | 4,0 |
| C. longa, India 2 | 1,9 | 71% turmerones | 1,8 |
| C. longa, India 3 | 2,4 | 79% turmerones | 4,0 |
| C. longa, India 4 | 2,5 | 73% turmerones | 2,9 |
| C. longa, India 5 | 3,0 | 74% turmerones | 3,0 |
| C. longa, India 6 | 4,3 | 57% turmerones | 1,9 |
| C. xanth., Pharma.Spec | > 5 | - | > 1 |
| C. xanth., Indon. | 7,0 | - | - |
| C. xanth., unknown | 7,8 | 56% curcumenes, 25% xanthorrhizol |
- |
| C. xanth.?, Indon. | 4,1 | 28% ar-turmerone, 8% xanthorrhizol |
- |
| C. xanth.?, Indon. | 3,4 | 38% ar-turmerone, 5% xanthorrhizol |
- |