Abstract

VARIOUS APPROACHES TOWARDS ENHANCEMENT OF BIOAVAILABILITY OF CURCUMIN – A POTENT PHYTOCHEMICAL

Dr. Mitali Milind Bodhankar* and Shubham Chikhle

Abstract

Herbal medicine is the oldest form of health care known to mankind. Turmaric (Curcuma longa Linn), a nature’s precious and most popular Indian spice belonging to family zingiberaceae is cultivated throughout the Indian sub continent because of its excellent medicinal properties. Curcumin is a specially gifted molecule provided by Mother-Nature to protect humans from chronic health problem. Although curcumin has shown therapeutic efficacy against many human ailment, one of the major problems with the curcumin is its poor bioavailability, which appears to be primarily due to poor absorption, rapid metabolism and rapid systemic circulation. Nanotechnology is an innovative idea that can be used to overcome the problems associated with curcumin solubility, stability and bioavailability. In this review, the various problems, methods of preparation, various types of curcumin nano-drug delivery system of curcumin nanoparticles and its novel approach are discussed. The introduction of gold and silver nanoparticles, Liposomes, Niosomes and so on provides a solution towards increased bioavailability of curcumin. Design and development of herbal nanoparticles has become a frontier research in the nanoformulation arena. However, most of the known activities of curcumin are based only on in vitro and in vivo studies and this nanotechnology-based medicine may become a reality in clinical applications.

Keywords: Curcumin, Nanoparticles, Liposomes, enhancement of bioavailability.