Erode & Salem Finger Turmeric

2.5–3.5% curcumin, bright yellow — the culinary grade

Erode and Salem finger is the culinary workhorse of the turmeric trade and the grade behind most retail turmeric powder. Curcumin runs 2.5–3.5%, which is lower than Alleppey but entirely adequate for cooking, and the colour is the bright, clean yellow that consumers and food manufacturers actually want in a powder — Alleppey's deeper orange-red reads as darker and less familiar on a shelf. Fingers are supplied polished or unpolished, with moisture ≤ 10%, total ash ≤ 7%, acid-insoluble ash ≤ 1.5%, and lead and aflatoxin controlled to destination food limits. Erode in Tamil Nadu is the largest turmeric market in India and sets much of the country's price reference.

Buy Erode or Salem where turmeric is an ingredient rather than a feedstock: retail and private-label powder, masala and curry blends, food processing, and food-service. The economics are straightforward — you are paying for colour and flavour in a kitchen application, and the extra curcumin in Alleppey delivers nothing you can use while costing real money. Move up to Alleppey only if you are extracting curcumin or making a nutraceutical claim tied to curcuminoid content. As with all turmeric, the material risks are lead chromate adulteration used to brighten colour, and dilution of powder with starch or millet flour, both of which are far easier to detect in whole finger than in a ground product. That is the practical argument for buying finger and grinding at destination wherever your operation allows it. CBIL supplies against SGS or Intertek certification of curcumin, moisture, ash, acid-insoluble ash, lead, aflatoxin and residues, in 25 kg and 50 kg bags, container-load, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms.