Curcumin is a specially gifted molecule provided by Mother-Nature to protect humans from chronic
health problems. Looking at the simple chemical structure of curcumin, it is natural to presume that
chemistry of curcumin is also very simple, however with increasing scientific understanding it appears
to be more complex, unique and difficult to comprehend. It is a symmetric molecule abundant in turmeric
with relatively high stability in natural form. It has an intense yellow color, that changes to deep red in
basic pH solution. In simple aqueous and aqueous-organic solutions, it is susceptible to fast degradation,
which increases as the basicity of the solutions increases, and also on exposure to sunlight. The metabolic
products of curcumin are different from the degradation products, where O-conjugation and reduction
are the important processes initiated through the enzymatic reactions. Interestingly unlike the
degradation products, the metabolic products are much more difficult to synthesize in the laboratory.
The presence of α,β-unsaturated structure makes curcumin participate in nucleophilic addition reactions
with protein thiols and selenols, that play important role in modulating cellular oxidative stress. It is still
not clear if these processes are reversible under physiological conditions. Future chemical research on
these aspects is necessary to elucidate the kinetics and mechanism of all these reactions, so that a
meaningful conclusion can be made on the role of these different processes in curcumin biology.
Curcumin is a specially gifted molecule provided by Mother-Nature to protect humans from chronic
health problems. Looking at the simple chemical structure of curcumin, it is natural to presume that
chemistry of curcumin is also very simple, however with increasing scientific understanding it appears
to be more complex, unique and difficult to comprehend. It is a symmetric molecule abundant in turmeric
with relatively high stability in natural form. It has an intense yellow color, that changes to deep red in
basic pH solution. In simple aqueous and aqueous-organic solutions, it is susceptible to fast degradation,
which increases as the basicity of the solutions increases, and also on exposure to sunlight. The metabolic
products of curcumin are different from the degradation products, where O-conjugation and reduction
are the important processes initiated through the enzymatic reactions. Interestingly unlike the
degradation products, the metabolic products are much more difficult to synthesize in the laboratory.
The presence of α,β-unsaturated structure makes curcumin participate in nucleophilic addition reactions
with protein thiols and selenols, that play important role in modulating cellular oxidative stress. It is still
not clear if these processes are reversible under physiological conditions. Future chemical research on
these aspects is necessary to elucidate the kinetics and mechanism of all these reactions, so that a
meaningful conclusion can be made on the role of these different processes in curcumin biology.
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