As a dried rhizome of an herbaceous plant, turmeric is closely related to ginger. The underground rhizome imparts a distinctive flavour to food, but it is also used to provide food with a deep, indelible orange colour. In the form of this fine, dried, yellow powder, turmeric is mostly sold to customers in developed countries. Turmeric is used in a wide variety of cuisines of Southern Asia, but locally it also applies as an antiseptic for skin abrasions and cuts.

While there is speculation that turmeric may have originated from South or South-East Asia, its centre of domestication is certainly the Indian subcontinent. Currently, India is the major producer of turmeric, and it is also the major user of its own production.

Apart from Nigeria, other producers in Asia include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, China, Burma (Myanmar), and Indonesia. Turmeric is also produced in the Caribbean and Latin America: Jamaica, Haiti, Costa Rica, Peru, and Brazil.