Zedoary Root (Curcuma zedoaria Roscoe) is a popular spice and medicine in the Eastern world, used similarly to its cousin turmeric in condiments and curries.

It is a rhizome ( like its cousin Turmeric) a like wet forest regions in the tropics. It is a fragrant plant and has brigh yellow flowers with red and green bractss and the underground stem section is large and tuberous with many branches. the eaves can reach 3 feet in length.

It is also known as White Turmeric or Kentjur

The white root or rhizome is edible and has a fruity smell a bit like mango or perhaps guava but its taste is bitter and similar to ginger and leaves an aftertaste.

In Thailand it is shredded and used with other vegetables and the fresh rhizome is used in pckles in India whilst the dried product, powdered or cut, is used in curry pastes.

Traditional Uses for Zedoary Root Essential Oil:-

Zedoary Root Essential Oil is one of the most widely used ingredients in the perfumery and flavouring sectors although barely known by the public outside the far east and the essential oil has been used for many years in folk medicine.

The oil is used for digestive issues and is used as a gastrointestinal stimulant in flatulent colic.  It can also be used topically, although in dilution as with all essential oils, in healing different kinds of wounds. It can be used as an antioxidant and is commonly used in India to help in sexual problems of  both sexes.

It is used as a condiment, as a flavouring for liqueurs and bitters and medicinally as a carminative and stimulant. It is a well known component of many perfumes

The essential oil contains D-borneol; D-camphene; D-camphor; cineole; curculone; curcumadiol; curcumanolide A and B; Curcumenol; curcumenone curcumin; curcumol; curdione; dehydrocurdione; alpha-pinene; mucilage; starch; resin; sesquiterpenes; and sesquiterpene alcohols. The root also contains numerous other bitter substances; tannins; and flavonoids.