Revista de nanomateriales y nanotecnología molecular

Editorial Note on Nano Curcumin

Hazel Mark

Curcumin, a polyphenolic pigment found in turmeric, has tremendous medicinal potential, but it has yet to be developed as a medication due to its poor water solubility and metabolic instability. Curcumin can remain in keto-enol tautomeric forms depending on ambient pH, according to structural analyses. Curcumin, a polyphenolic pigment found in turmeric, has tremendous medicinal potential, but it has yet to be developed as a medication due to its poor water solubility and metabolic instability. Curcumin can remain in keto-enol tautomeric forms depending on ambient pH, according to structural analyses. The keto form is formed at an acidic pH, and the presence of the -diketone motif in the molecule activates the methylene group, allowing it to donate a hydrogen atom to reactive oxygen species, resulting in its anti-oxidative capabilities. Because of substantial delocalization of electrons from one aromatic ring to the other through the pi orbital of C=C bonds in the heptadione linkage, the enol form of curcumin, which is present at alkaline pH, forms a planar molecule. Curcumin is degraded to smaller molecules at alkaline pH, which have been proven to have therapeutic potential. The methylene group in the -diketone domain, as well as the methoxy and phenoxy groups on the aromatic rings of curcumin, have been identified as contact locations with enzymes and signalling molecules, and may be involved in inactivating them, according to molecular interaction studies. Turmeric, made from the rhizome of the Curcuma longa plant, has long been used in Indian traditional medicine for wound healing, pain relief, and antibacterial purposes. However, no one knew what the bioactive component of turmeric was until Vogel Jr. extracted the yellow pigment in its pure form in 1842. Milobedzka and Lampe elucidated its chemical structure and named it curcumin as a result of this. Following that, Srinivasan's fractionation in 1953 revealed that it was made up of three separate molecules: curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. A fourth molecule, cyclocurcumin, has recently been discovered utilising improved chromatographic techniques, compatible resins, and solvent systems.