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Comprehensive Assessment of Curcumin as a Functional Food

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Abstract

The importance of bioactive compounds present in natural sources has withdrawn ample attention in human nutrition and established as “functional food” in the field of food chemistry and as “preventive medicine” in the field of pharmacology and healthcare. Curcumin is one such promising and well-studied natural bioactive plant compound that is present in Curcuma longa and known for providing various protective effects in different diseased states. This chapter highlights the present understanding of various protective effects of curcumin in wide range of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, etc. The major emphasis is on the molecular pathways associated with curcumin-mediated effects. The significance of its unique structure attributing to its function and present advances in curcumin applications to overcome its limitations has also been discussed in detail.

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Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology for providing the infrastructure and literature support for conducting the detailed study presented in the chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Aditi Jain, Sharad Saxena & Vibha Rani

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  1. Aditi Jain
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  2. Sharad Saxena
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Correspondence to Vibha Rani .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Vibha Rani

  2. School of Life Sciences, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

    Umesh C. S. Yadav

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Jain, A., Saxena, S., Rani, V. (2018). Comprehensive Assessment of Curcumin as a Functional Food. In: Rani, V., Yadav, U. (eds) Functional Food and Human Health. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1123-9_6

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