How exquisite is turmeric—its golden color, its rich flavor as a culinary spice, and its affinity for humans, as it gives tremendous health benefits.

More adults in the West are now familiar with “curry”—some hate the flavor, while others crave it. But most people understand that incorporating it into their lives even as supplements is a good idea to keep joints healthy and to ensure inflammatory response in their bodies is appropriate.

Historical Snapshot

While turmeric has been used as a food seasoning and a medicinal herb in India and surrounding regions for thousands of years, the last decade has seen it enter the awareness of the general public, observed Shaheen Majeed, president worldwide, Sabinsa, New Jersey. During this time, the medical community has largely embraced curcumin because of the large volume of published clinical research, which has driven growth in both consumer demand and in product research and development.

Research into curcumin’s condition-specific efficacy originally focused on its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, followed by joint health. “In the ensuing years, focus of research has expanded into additional areas: as a chemo-preventive agent, serum triglyceride level reduction, as an adjunct therapy in treating both anxiety and depression, improved pulmonary function, and addressing metabolic syndrome and many more applications,” Majeed said, adding that the most abundant and biologically studied active component in turmeric is curcumin (between 2 and 5 percent). Two other bioactive components of turmeric, demethoxycurcumin (DMC) and bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC), also exert targeted roles in supporting human health.

Curcumin’s health promotion abilities have encouraged innovations and improvement in the raw material processing to ensure better bioavailability and versatility in delivery formats to satisfy numerous consumer preferences.

As a prime example, said Dan Lifton, president, Maypro Ventures, New York, a major challenge regarding curcumin efficacy is low bioavailability in its natural form. Thus, industry has concentrated on developing new technologies to optimize its absorption, thus unlocking the full potential of curcumin and optimize its absorption. With varying degrees of success, different curcumin extractions and delivery form technologies have been tested, including liposomal, nanoparticle and piperine-enhanced delivery, he reported. “The most effective technology that has been borne out by research, has been shown to be a water-dispersible formulation composed of dispersed micronized curcuminoids in a sustained-release matrix.”

Sabinsa, said Majeed, also worked diligently on curcumin’s improvement as a raw material. “Because of the staining properties of curcumin with its vivid yellow/orange hue, and lack of solubility, alternative delivery systems were limited until Sabinsa developed non-staining C3 Reduct and water soluble Uc3 Clear, designed for the beverage and food industry.”

Kristen Marshall, marketing coordinator, Indiana-based Verdure Sciences has observed that initially, the industry had difficulties determining the most bioactive constituent of turmeric, and knowledge of differentiation of the specific curcuminoids was still somewhat obscure. “This confusion laid the groundwork for a market that is now flooded with a variety of ingredient solutions that are all trying to achieve optimal bioavailability and absorption—a well-known dilemma for curcumin,” she described. “Research throughout the years has proven to have maintained the air of confusion as some focus on free curcumin, while most of the others target curcuminoids or glucurionated curcuminoids. It is a huge challenge to overcome.”

Marshall added that while innovations in technology and applicable research techniques continue to evolve, the overall goal—delivering free curcumin—remains the same.

Curcumin Samples

Here’s how curcumin ingredients, recently innovated, can now benefit your formulas or reformulations.

Maypro: Maypro’s MicroActive Curcumin uses a micronized, sustained-release technology that allows for better, more uniform absorption and retention, according to Lifton. “Two studies show that 12-hour, multi-staged-release MicroActive Curcumin is absorbed 10 times better than regular curcumin and reaches desired blood levels 50 percent faster than standard curcumin,” he related. “MicroActive Curcumin also delivers measurable levels of both demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin, the main secondary metabolites of native turmeric.”

Sabinsa: Curcumin C3 Complex from Sabinsa, Majeed described, contains a minimum of 95 percent curcuminoids (mainly curcumin, cemethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin).

Generally, he explained, turmeric extract powder has a fluffy consistency and can have poor flow properties during manufacturing. Its vivid yellow color tends to stain machines and walls, increasing labor costs for extra cleaning. Sabinsa offers various grades of Curcumin C3 Complex, including directly compressible (DC), high bulk density (HBD), and high granular particle (GP) for customers to use in their formulations. For the food and beverage industry, Sabinsa developed uC3 Clear, a water-soluble version of curcumin.

Sabinsa R&D also developed what Majeed called “next generation curcumin” – C3 Reduct ODN, a patented, off-white color extract, standardized to 95 percent tetrahydrocurcuminoids. These are the potent active metabolites of curcuminoids that are more easily absorbed from the GI (gastrointestinal) tract than curcumin is itself. C3 Reduct has manufacturing advantages because it is colorless and therefore non-staining. Because it is all active metabolites, a smaller dose provides the same benefits as a larger amount of other forms.

Clinical research on Curcumin C3 Complex also goes beyond its typical joint health/inflammation control activities, according to Majeed. For example, a recent double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study investigated the impact of curcuminoids on the gut microbiome in humans. The study compared the effects of placebo tablet, turmeric tablet (containing 1,000 mg turmeric root powder plus 1.25 mg BioPerine), and curcumin tablet (1,000 mg Curcumin C3 Complex plus 1.25 mg BioPerine). Subjects were instructed to take three tablets twice a day (total of six tablets daily; 6,000 mg) with food.

In the longitudinal sampling of stools over a two-month period, the placebo group displayed an increase in the relative abundance (two fold or greater) of an average of 68 taxa compared with 88 taxa in the turmeric group and 147 in the curcumin group. Most of the changes in relative abundance in the placebo group were between twofold and tenfold (69 percent), whereas turmeric and curcumin treatment led to larger abundance alterations between tenfold and 100-fold or greater in an average of 53 and 60 percent of participants, respectively.

Verdure Science: Longvida optimized curcumin, noted Marshall, was developed by university neuroscientists. Initially, she said, researchers attempted to utilize available curcumin ingredients for assessing its impact on cognitive health; however, they realized that these were not able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. “These scientists diligently worked to develop Longvida Optimized Curcumin. Longvida utilizes SLCP Technology, or Solid Lipid Curcumin Particle Technology,” she detailed. This technology enrobeas the curcumin in Longvida in a matrix of lipids, which allows the curcumin to survive first pass metabolism and digestion, thus avoiding the common issue of being quickly excreted. It is then able to enter the bloodstream and target tissues and deliver efficacious levels of free curcumin. One study showed that Longvida circulates for 24 hours, which allows for once-daily dosing.

“One of the biggest limitations in translating reported in-vitro effects for curcumin to clinicals, is systemic bioavailability of free curcumin,” she asserted, “Longvida, was developed to address this challenge of poor bioavailability of free curcumin. The high bioavailability of optimized curcumin was established by increased tissue absorption of free curcumin from system and lymphatic circulation, rather than glucuronidated or other curcumin metabolites.”

Recently, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, collaborated with NeuroVision Imaging and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to investigate Longvida in novel, proof-of-concept trial for retinal amyloid beta imaging, she reported. This non-invasive technology can help to identify those predisposed to cognitive decline, even 20 years before the onset of symptoms. Longvida binds to amyloid beta in the retina and naturally fluoresces, reflecting the amount of AB in the brain, and increased brain curcumin levels more effectively than other curcumin ingredients tested in the in-vitro portion of the study, she attested, and was therefore used in the human trial to quantify the amount of AB in the retina.

New from Verdure Science is Restoridyn, which blends Longvida Curcumin, with Pomella pomegranate extract. In research, said Marshall, supplementation with Restoridyn was associated with a down regulation of the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that are known to regulate inflammatory responses and COX-2 expression. “In this initial study, endurance athletes showed improvements in pre- and post-race recovery, as well as in the promotion of a healthy immune system; meaning, supplementation resulted in decreases to physical soreness, regulation and balancing of inflammatory responses, improvements to recovery time, and support to the overall immune defense,” she explained.

Bergstrom Nutrition: Bergstrom Nutrition (Washington) has blended Restoridyn with its OptiMSM brand of methylsulfonylmethane. Rodney Benjamin, Bergstrom’s director of R&D noted that “recently presented results indicate that this combination may reduce systemic inflammation and oxidative stress following a half-marathon race.”

This combination and the research open up curcumin to the sports and fitness nutrition market. According to the lead author of the study, Brian McFarlin, associate professor of exercise physiology & nutrition, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of North Texas. “Our innovative way of looking at inflammation-associated proteins and RNA biomarkers suggest the blend of these ingredients act synergistically, resulting in significant benefit in overall mileage and exertion level during training.

These are a handful of curcumin ingredient innovations that represent the overall vivacity of development and innovation in this market, and the new health area opportunities opening up for this ancient ingredient.

“Curcumin may not exactly be the new kid on the block—as turmeric has been part of ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years,” Lifton summarized. “But its profound anti-inflammation benefits and excellent safety record have made curcumin one of the fastest-growing nutraceuticals, one that has a bright future for formulators, manufacturers and of course, consumers.” NIE

For More Information:

Bergstrom Nutrition, www.bergstromnutrition.com; www.optimsm.com
Maypro Ventures, www.maypro.com
Sabinsa Corp., www.sabinsa.com
Verdure Sciences, www.vs-corp.com