Review paper DOI: 10.17508/CJFST.2021.13.1.16
A Mini-Review: Comparison between curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin based on their activities
Sameera A. Rege *, Megha A. Varshneya, Shamim A. Momin
Department of Oils, Oleochemicals and Surfactants Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology, Nathalal Parekh Marg, Matunga (East), Mumbai – 400 019, India
| ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT |
| Article history: Received: November 24, 2020 Accepted: January 11, 2021 |
Curcumin, a natural ingredient present in turmeric rhizome is known for its various therapeutic activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, NF-kB activation suppresser. The hydrogenated derivative of curcumin, i.e., tetrahydrocurcumin, is also found to reveal the same activities. Moreover, the pro-oxidant effect of curcumin is reported, whereas tetrahydrocurcumin does not show any pro-oxidant effects. This contrasting behaviour of the two is attributed to their structures, because conjugation is involved only in curcumin, not in the tetrahydrocurcumin. It can be evidently concluded that double bonds affect the keto-enol ratio of the molecules and are therefore responsible for the degradation of curcumin, whereas tetrahydrocurcumin remains stable. Nevertheless, these double bonds are liable to affect the kinetics of beneficial activities of curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin. |
| Keywords: curcumint etrahydrocurcumin autoxidation pro-oxidant diene moiety |