Plantes Médicinales & Aromatiques
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Improvement of Curcumin Bioavailability for Medical Applications

Chithdavone Her, Marie-Claire Venier-Julienne and Emilie Roger

Curcumin, a natural polyphenol isolated from the rhizomes of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa Linn), is well known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Curcumin is currently marketed as a dietary supplement in several countries (United States, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, China, Turkey, South Africa, Nepal, and Pakistan). Nevertheless, the use of curcumin has been limited due to its poor aqueous solubility, chemical instability, photodegradation, rapid metabolism, and short half-life. Moreover, orally administered curcumin shows poor bioavailability. Many strategies have been designed to overcome this limitation. In this review, we discuss the bioavailability of curcumin and the commercially available formulations.