Curcumin is the natural yellow polyphenol that gives turmeric its colour, and "curcumin percentage" is simply how much of it a turmeric contains by weight. Most commercial haldi sits near 2–3%. Lakadong turmeric from Meghalaya is prized because its curcumin runs far higher — Maatru Rasah's batches test at 7–12%.
That jar of haldi is hiding a number
Almost every Indian kitchen has a tin of turmeric. Very few of us have ever asked the one question that actually separates a good turmeric from an ordinary one: how much curcumin is in it?
That number is the whole story of this spice. It is why two yellow powders that look identical can be worlds apart, why some turmeric is sold for a few rupees and some for many times that, and why a particular turmeric from the hills of Meghalaya has built a quiet reputation among people who cook seriously. This is a guide to what curcumin is, what its percentage means, and why ours is what it is. No health promises — just the spice, explained honestly.
What is curcumin, actually?
Curcumin is a curcuminoid — a natural plant polyphenol, and the pigment responsible for turmeric's deep gold-orange colour. Turmeric (the ground rhizome of Curcuma longa) is the major dietary source of it (Hewlings & Kalman, 2017). When a recipe stains your fingers and your steel tiffin yellow, that is curcumin at work.
Two things are worth fixing in your mind:
- Turmeric is the spice. Curcumin is one compound inside it. They are not the same word. Turmeric also contains essential oils, other curcuminoids and starch; curcumin is the headline pigment, but it is a fraction of the whole.
- By weight, curcumin is a small share of turmeric. In ordinary turmeric, curcuminoids typically make up only a few percent of the powder (Hewlings & Kalman, 2017). So "high-curcumin" turmeric is genuinely uncommon, not a marketing default.
What "curcumin percentage" really means
Curcumin percentage is the proportion of curcumin, by weight, in a given turmeric powder. If a turmeric is "3% curcumin," then 100 grams of it contains about 3 grams of curcuminoids.
It is measured in a laboratory, not by eye. Colour is a weak guide — a bright powder can be low in curcumin, and adulterants or dyes can fake brightness entirely. The reliable methods are analytical: techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separate and quantify the curcuminoids in a sample. That is why a credible curcumin figure should come with batch testing behind it, not just a label.
A quick reference table:
| Turmeric type | Typical curcumin (by weight) |
|---|---|
| Common commercial / table haldi | ~2–3% |
| Good-quality culinary turmeric | ~3–5% |
| Lakadong (Meghalaya) | High — Maatru Rasah batches: 7–12% |
We state a range, 7–12%, on purpose. Curcumin varies batch to batch with soil, harvest and curing. A single fixed number like "12%" stamped on every pack is a flag, not a flex — nature does not produce identical batches. Our current batch and its tested figure are shown on the product page.
Why Lakadong turmeric runs so high
Lakadong is a specific landrace of turmeric grown in the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, in India's northeast. It is not a brand name and not a marketing grade — it is a variety, the way Alphonso is a variety of mango. Several things stack up to give it its unusually high curcumin:
- Genetics. The Lakadong landrace is simply a high-curcumin variety; that is its claim to fame.
- Place. The altitude, the iron-rich hill soil and the climate of the Jaintia Hills suit it.
- Method. It is traditionally grown on hill slopes with little chemical input and cured the slow way.
Maatru Rasah sources its Lakadong from Mulieh village in the West Jaintia Hills, through the farmer cooperative led by Padma Shri Trinity Saioo — the cultivator whose work to revive and scale Lakadong cultivation earned national recognition (Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, n.d.). That association is the honest difference between our Lakadong and a generic "Meghalaya turmeric" sold without a named source. We say so plainly; what we can stand behind is the variety, the village, the cooperative and the batch test.
The food science of getting curcumin to actually work in a dish
Here is the genuinely useful, claim-free science — about the cooking, not your body.
Curcumin is fat-soluble (lipophilic) and, on its own, poorly absorbed by the body — it tends to be processed and cleared quickly (Anand et al., 2007). Indian kitchens, long before anyone measured this, arrived at two habits that make sense of it:
- Cook turmeric in fat. Because curcumin dissolves in oil and ghee rather than water, blooming haldi in hot fat at the start of a dish — the tadka — carries it better than stirring it into water. This is also why turmeric belongs so naturally in an oil-based achaar.
- Pair it with black pepper. Piperine, the pungent compound in black pepper, has been shown to dramatically increase the bioavailability of curcumin — in one classic human study, by about 2000% when taken together (Shoba et al., 1998; corroborated in Hewlings & Kalman, 2017). The grandmother's haldi-doodh with a pinch of kali mirch turns out to be sound food chemistry.
To be clear about the boundary: these points are about how the curcumin compound is absorbed, established in published research. They are not a claim that turmeric treats, cures or prevents any condition. Maatru Rasah makes no medical or health claims about its spices. If you have a health concern, talk to a doctor, not a spice jar.
Is "high-curcumin" turmeric better for cooking?
For the kitchen, yes — in concrete, non-medical ways. Higher curcumin means a deeper, more saturated colour from less powder, a fuller earthy-bitter backbone in the dish, and a more aromatic turmeric overall. You use less to get more. Whether a higher percentage matters to you beyond the plate is a question for your own judgement and, if relevant, a medical professional — not something we will sell you a story about.
How to use Lakadong turmeric well
- Bloom it in fat first. Add to hot ghee or oil at the start, not as a finishing dust.
- Keep a pinch of pepper nearby. It belongs with turmeric for flavour and for absorption.
- Use less than you would ordinary haldi. A high-curcumin turmeric is more concentrated in colour and flavour, so dial down.
- Store it dark and dry. Light and damp dull both colour and aroma.
You can find the batch-tested figure and source details on our Lakadong Turmeric page, and the full sourcing story — Mulieh village and the Trinity Saioo cooperative — on our About Us page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is curcumin?
Curcumin is a natural plant polyphenol (a curcuminoid) that gives turmeric its yellow-orange colour. Turmeric, the ground Curcuma longa rhizome, is the major dietary source of curcumin, but curcumin is just one compound within the whole spice rather than the spice itself.
What does "curcumin percentage" mean?
It is the proportion of curcumin by weight in a turmeric powder. A turmeric that is 3% curcumin contains about 3 grams of curcuminoids per 100 grams. It is measured in a laboratory by analytical methods such as HPLC, not judged by colour, which can be misleading.
Why does Lakadong turmeric have higher curcumin than regular haldi?
Lakadong is a high-curcumin landrace variety from the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya. Its genetics, the hill soil and climate, and slow traditional curing combine to push its curcumin well above common turmeric. Ordinary haldi is often around 2–3%; Maatru Rasah's Lakadong batches test at 7–12%.
How is curcumin content measured?
In a laboratory, typically using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which separates and quantifies the curcuminoids in a sample. Colour and aroma are not reliable indicators, so a trustworthy curcumin figure should be backed by batch testing.
Does turmeric need black pepper?
For flavour, no — but for absorption of curcumin, pairing helps. Piperine in black pepper has been shown to greatly increase curcumin bioavailability (Shoba et al., 1998). Cooking turmeric in fat helps too, because curcumin is fat-soluble. This is food science about absorption, not a health claim.
Is high-curcumin turmeric healthier?
We don't make health claims about our spices, and we'd be cautious of any brand that does. What we can say is that higher curcumin gives deeper colour, fuller flavour and more aroma from less powder in your cooking. Any health question is one for a medical professional.
References
Anand, P., Kunnumakkara, A. B., Newman, R. A., & Aggarwal, B. B. (2007). Bioavailability of curcumin: Problems and promises. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 4(6), 807–818. https://doi.org/10.1021/mp700113r
Hewlings, S. J., & Kalman, D. S. (2017). Curcumin: A review of its effects on human health. Foods, 6(10), 92. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods6100092
Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India. (n.d.). PM FME e-newsletter — Lakadong turmeric and Trinity Saioo. https://pmfme.mofpi.gov.in/newsletters/enewsaugust6.html
Shoba, G., Joy, D., Joseph, T., Majeed, M., Rajendran, R., & Srinivas, P. S. S. R. (1998). Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta Medica, 64(4), 353–356. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2006-957450