Description of Curcumin/Curcuma:
Curcuma is a yellow-orange polyphenol. In its usual form it is a dry yellow powder that is oil-soluble. Curcuma is without flavor and aroma. Its strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics are its most obvious medicinal properties.
Curcuma is derived from the root of the Curcuma Longa plant first by drying and powdering, to create the spice called Turmeric, then by a solvent extraction. The resulting refined powder is 18 times stronger in the essential ingredients than is the common spice.
Research on Curcuma has been focused on Alzheimer's, Arthritis, Cancer and Diabetes. In laboratory experiments on rodents, Curcuma can break up the Alzheimer's amyloid-beta polymers, suppress arthritic inflammation, induce apoptosis in some cancer types and improve insulin sensitivity. Human trials of Curcuma for some illnesses are underway.
Technical Information:
- Synonyms for the pure extract:
- Curcumin; Turmeric Extract (English)
- Curcuma/Cúrcuma (France, Spain, Portugal and Italy); also La Curcumine (Fr)
- Haldi (North India); Manjal (South India)
- Kunyit (Indonesia)
- Al-khourkoum (الكركم, Arabic)
- Huang Jiang (姜黄, China)
- diferuloylmethane
- 1,7-Bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione
- Chemical Formula: C21H20O6; Molecular Weight: 368.38
- Metabolites: Curcumin-sulphate, Curcumin-glucuronide; Catabolites: Vanillic acid and Ferulic acid.
- Three Molecular Forms: curcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin.
- Molecular structure: it is a dimer of vanillin (2 molecules of vanillin conjoined).
molecular structure of curcumin
turmeric spice
cúrcuma extracto crudo
curcumin
cúrcuma extracto refinado
Medicinal Properties of Curcumin/Curcuma:
Curcuma Longa extract has significant effects in the laboratory on arthritis, amyloid-beta (Alzheimer's polymers), cancer and diabetes. In summary it is:
- anti-oxidant;
- anti-arthritis: inhibiting inflammation, possibly inhibits something in the pathway of Cox-2 but not Cox-2 itself; not only does it not cause ulcers but is currently being used experimentally as a treatment for ulcers in western countries.
- anti-Alzheimer's: inhibits formation of, and breaks down, Amyloid-beta oligomers (fibres) and aggregates in rodents;
- anti-platelet;
- anti-cancer effects: causes apoptosis in various cancer cell types including skin, colon, forestomach, duodenum and ovary in the laboratory; we await clinical trials in humans;
- anti: -viral, -fungal, -bacterial effects (inhibits Helicobacter Pylori);
- inhibits NFkappaB, 5-lipoxygenase, glutathione S-transferase and cytochrome P-450 isoenzyme 1A1;
- anti-diabetic effects in rodents; we await clinical trials in humans.
more on curcumin
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Traditional and Modern Uses of Curcuma Longa
- In India, Curcuma Longa has been in use as a culinary ingredient since 3000 BC. It is used as a food coloring for curry and as a preservative for food. As a medicine it is used to treat a wide variety of ailments including stomach ache, skin problems, muscular problems and arthritis. Curcuma Longa has also been used as a clothing dye and as a cosmetic. Indians are thought to consume between 80 and 200 mg per day of Curcuma Longa extract. India as a whole consumes 480,000 tons of turmeric annually.
- In China it has been used as a topical analgesic, and for colic, hepatitis, ringworm and chest pain.
- In Europe it is used in many foods as a coloring in mustard, cheese, margarine, beverages and cakes. In the recent past it has been used for dyspepsia, chronic anterior uveitis and Helicobacter pylori bacteria.
- It is generally recognized as safe by the FDA of the United States.
- Availability: in capsule form as a health supplement and as the culinary spice Turmeric.
There are more than 1730 articles cited by Pubmed on the subject of Curcuma Longa ingredients including 599 on cancer, 23 on arthritis, 16 on alzheimer's disease and 78 on diabetes. This demonstrates that Curcuma Longa is now being used in new ways.
