Turmeric is the boiled, dried, cleaned and polished rhizomes of Curcuma longa. The plant is a herbaceous perennial, 60-90 cm high. It is a native of India and has always been known to be the Indian saffron. Apart from India, it is cultivated in Pakistan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Korea, China and Central America. In India, it is cultivated in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Although turmeric is powdered and used in India, the East Asians prefer fresh rhizomes. It is perhaps one of the very few ingredients that form a prominent ingredient in almost all lentils, pulses, vegetables and curries of Indian cuisine. It is believed to aid digestion and also works as an effective disease preventing mechanism inside the body.