Pharmacokinetic studies of commercially available curcumin formulations in healthy humans: A systematic comparison with novel highly bioavailable curcuRouge® formulation

Authors

  • Mahendra Parkash Kapoor
  • Tadashi Hashimoto
  • Yasuhiro Katsuura
  • Hiroki Aoyama
  • Kanako Tanigaki
  • Atsuhiro Kishimoto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31989/ffs.v5i12.1869

Abstract

Curcumin has been widely studied for its therapeutic potential, but its clinical efficacy is limited by poor bioavailability. Various strategies have been developed to enhance curcumin absorption. 

      This systematic review evaluated the pharmacokinetic performance of commercially available absorption-enhanced curcumin formulations by comparing their AUC0-t and Cmax values, normalized per milligram of curcumin, against unformulated standard extracts.

       Among the formulations analyzed, curcuRouge®, an amorphous curcumin formulation, demonstrated the highest absorption (AUC0-t: 17.23 ng/mL·h) and peak concentration (Cmax: 5.47 ng/mL), significantly outperforming others (P < 0.05). CurQfen® (9.86 ng/mL·h) and NovaSol® (10.91 ng/mL·h) showed similar but lower absorption than curcuRouge®. Relative to unformulated curcumin, curcuRouge® showed a 162.7-fold increase in bioavailability, making it approximately 1.7 and 1.6 times more bioavailable than NovaSol® and CurQfen®, respectively. In terms of Cmax, curcuRouge® was 182.0-fold higher than NovaSol® (96.5-fold) and CurQfen® (116.5-fold), indicating it is 1.9 and 1.6 times more absorbable, respectively. 

        These findings suggest that curcuRouge® represents a significant advancement in curcumin delivery with its amorphous structure and enhanced dissolution rate. This analysis offers a robust comparative framework for evaluating bioavailability in commercial curcumin formulations and highlights curcuRouge® as a promising option for improved therapeutic efficacy.

Highlights:

  1. Curcumin’s therapeutic use is limited due to poor bioavailability.
  2. Study compares the pharmacokinetics of absorption-enhanced curcumin formulations.
  3. Amorphous structure promotes curcuRouge® stability, solubility and absorption efficiency.
  4. curcuRouge® showed excellent bioavailability than other curcumin formulations at modest doses.

Keywords: curcumin; Curcuminoids; amorphous; curcuRouge®, human, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability.

Downloads

Published

2025-12-26

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 12 (2025): December 2025

Section

Review Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Mahendra Parkash Kapoor, Tadashi Hashimoto, Yasuhiro Katsuura, Hiroki Aoyama, Kanako Tanigaki, Atsuhiro Kishimoto

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain the copyright of their articles and grant the Functional Food Center (FFC) and its journals the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged.

By submitting to this journal, authors confirm that their manuscripts are original, not under consideration elsewhere, and that they hold the necessary rights to grant this license. The Functional Food Center encourages open scientific exchange and allows derivative and extended works, provided attribution to the original publication is maintained.