Curcumin – The Healing Herb: Properties and Future Prospective

Abstract

Curcumin, the main bioactive compound found in turmeric rhizomes, has a wide variety of applications in the clinical field that is why it attracts researchers from all over the world. While there are various studies on curcumin extraction and quantification, comparison of curcumin content according to the soil profile and cultivation period has not been performed yet in our knowledge. Curcumin to be a genuine natural product having impressive anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, treating a wide range of diseases. Curcumin is a special gift to humans given by mother-nature to help them curing many diseases. Turmeric, the plant containing a significant amount of this molecule, has been used for many centuries as a traditional medicine to cure skin problems, digestive issues, as painkiller, and much more. From the past two centuries, scientists found many applications of this molecule in the clinical field. There are still many properties of this wonder drug that need to be discovered. However, the obstacle in this track is difficulty in extracting the pure and high amounts of curcumin from turmeric rhizomes. For this reason, many researchers have searched about many techniques to extract curcumin from turmeric rhizomes, of which ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry has been found very efficient. The review will assist the researchers to discover and choose the plant to develop adequate medicine for establishing cost-effective treatments.