Postharvest treatments of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) in Cambodia- Impact on quality

Introduction -A study on postharvest treatments of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) was carried out in Cambodia with the aim of describing the local prac-tices and measuring their impacts on the quality of the products. Materials and methods -Three case studies were observed, described and compared by using the 5M methodology. The impacts of sourcing and postharvest treatments on turmeric quality were assessed in samples collected in the case studies. Re-sults and discussion -The local processing practices of turmeric were described in detail through the study of three turmeric production systems located in three areas (Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Kampot), and known as the main turmeric processors in Cambodia. The essential oil, bioaccessible curcuminoids (both finger and mother) and total curcuminoids contents (mother only) of the rhizomes from different origins were different. The essential oil content of fingers was lower than that of mothers. The contents of total and bioaccessible curcuminoids also varied according to the rhizome parts analysed. After processing, no gen-eral rule was observed for essential oil and curcumi-noid contents but the bioaccessible curcuminoids sig-nificantly decreased. Conclusion -Our findings clearly indicate that fresh turmeric from Siem Reap should be a good choice as it contains higher essential oil and equal curcuminoid contents compared to the turmer-ics from case study 2 (Phnom Penh). The postharvest treatment in Kampot had the shortest drying time and got the highest yield (16.2%), with the water con-tent (about 6%) conforming with the specifications of the ISO standard 5562:1983.