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Chinese Turmeric Extract Curcumin Introduction

       With the deepening of research on Turmeric Extract Curcumin, it has been found that it has a wide range of pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant , lipid-regulating, anti-viral, anti-infectious, anti-tumor, anti-coagulant, anti- liver fibrosis , and anti- atherosclerosis. , and has low toxicity and small adverse reactions. Curcumin is currently one of the largest-selling natural food pigments in the world. It is a food additive approved for use by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as many countries. Researchers are attracted to curcumin not only as a non- steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, but also because of its chemopreventive properties, curcumin has a wide range of preventive properties against disease. In view of the fact that modern medical research has found that the occurrence of many diseases in the human body is related to the formation of free radicals and the participation of inflammatory reactions, the antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin have attracted widespread attention from scholars at home and abroad.

Physical and chemical properties

      Chinese Turmeric Extract Curcumin is an orange-yellow crystalline powder with a slightly bitter taste . It is insoluble in water and ether , soluble in ethanol and propylene glycol , and easily soluble in glacial acetic acid and alkali solutions . It is reddish brown when alkaline and yellow when neutral or acidic.

Chinese Turmeric Extract Curcumin has strong stability to reducing agents and strong coloring properties. Once colored, it is not easy to fade. However, it is sensitive to light, heat, and iron ions, and has poor light resistance, heat resistance, and iron ion resistance.

Since the curcumin molecule has two hydroxyl groups at both ends, the conjugation effect of electron cloud deviation occurs under alkaline conditions , so when the pH is greater than 8, curcumin will turn from yellow to red. Modern chemistry utilizes this property as an acid-base indicator.

Application

     Food additives

   Chinese Curcumin has long been widely used in the food industry as a commonly used natural pigment . It is mainly used for dyeing canned food, sausage products, and sauce-braised products. The amount used is determined by normal production needs. The product form of functional foods with curcumin as the main ingredient can be general food or some non-food forms, such as capsules , pills or tablets . For general food forms, you can consider some foods with yellow pigments, such as pastries, sweets, drinks, etc.

a food additive approved by the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO/WHO-1995). It is one of the nine natural pigments that was first promulgated in China's " Hygienic Standards for the Use of Food Additives " and is allowed to be used in food. The newly promulgated " Standards for the Use of Food Additives " (GB2760-2011) stipulates that frozen drinks, cocoa products, chocolate and chocolate products and candies, gum-based candies , decorative candies, toppings and sweet juices, batter, breading and frying powder , the maximum usage amounts of curcumin in instant rice and noodle products, flavored syrups, compound seasonings, carbonated drinks and jelly are 0.15, 0.01, 0.7, 0.5, 0.3, 0.5, 0.5, 0.1, 0.01, 0.01 g/kg respectively, margarine It can be used in appropriate amounts according to production needs in its similar products, cooked nuts and seeds, grain product fillings and puffed foods.

Chinese Curcumin also has antiseptic properties. Currently, curcumin is widely used in the food industry as a condiment and pigment at home and abroad. Turmeric could replace the precious spice saffron in medieval Europe. It is also an indispensable traditional curry food in Indian life, common barbecue rolls in the Middle East, a common condiment in Persian and Thai dishes, and a common pigment in mustard sauce. Curcumin used for food coloring is mainly divided into four categories: water-dispersible turmeric lipids, water-dispersible purified turmeric , oil-soluble purified curcumin and purified turmeric powder. my country began to research and apply curcumin in the mid-to-late 1980s, and reached its peak in the early 1990s. However, due to product quality reasons, the degree of marketization was not high. At present, water-soluble and oil-soluble curcumin products have been developed in China that are comparable to those abroad. Through compounding, curcumin of various colors has been produced, which has been widely used in pasta, beverages, fruit wine, candies, pastries, cans, juices and For cooking dishes, it can be used as compound seasoning in chicken essence compound seasoning, puffed seasoning, instant noodles and puffed noodle products, instant food seasoning, hot pot seasoning sauce, paste flavors and spices, seasoning pickles, beef jerky products, etc. my country is one of the main producing areas of turmeric in the world and is rich in resources. The current annual output has reached tens of thousands of tons, which already has a good market advantage. [3]

 Chemical indicator

   Used as acid-base indicator , pH 7.8 (yellow)-9.2 (red-brown).

 Medicine

   Turmeric is a commonly used medicine, and its main bioactive components are curcuminoids and volatile oils. The former has hypolipidemic, anticoagulant, antioxidant , choleretic , and anticancer effects; while the latter mainly has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antitussive effects. Curcuminoids exert their anti-cancer effects by inducing the differentiation of malignant tumor cells , inducing tumor cell apoptosis and inhibiting tumor growth at various stages, and are widely used in clinical applications.

1. Anti-cancer

Curcumin is a plant polyphenol extracted from turmeric, and it is also the most important active ingredient in turmeric’s pharmacological effects. Research in recent years has not only proven the traditional effects of turmeric, but also revealed some new pharmacological effects, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, scavenging oxygen free radicals, anti-human immunodeficiency virus, liver and kidney protection, anti-fibrosis and anti-cancer Its anti-cancer effects may be related to its inhibition of the activation and expression of transcription factors such as nuclear factor- κB and activator protein-1, and it has no obvious toxic side effects.

2. Alzheimer’s disease

Duke University in the United States showed that the curcumin in curry not only decomposes amyloid protein in the brains of experimental mice , but also prevents the production of this protein. Researchers pointed out that regular consumption of curry may also produce similar effects in people, thereby helping to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Many studies have proven that the accumulation of amyloid protein in the brain is one of the main causes of Alzheimer's disease. Previous research has shown that curcumin, the key ingredient in curry, can prevent brain nerve cell damage and improve brain nerve cell function.

According to US media reports, researchers at Duke University in the United States genetically modified experimental mice to produce many amyloid proteins in their brains. The researchers then fed the mice a diet rich in curcumin and found that amyloid broke down in the brains of the mice. The same diet also prevented the development of amyloid in the brains of the mice as adults.

3. Anti-inflammatory

Inflammation is a complex process that is triggered by cell infection and/or tissue damage, resulting in a series of chain reactions that ultimately lead to the rapid development of certain chronic diseases. Given that inflammation plays an important role in most chronic diseases, anti-inflammatory drugs are needed to prevent it. Although several different steroidal and NSAIDs such as semicoxib, aspirin, ibuprofen , phenylbutazone, etc. can be used to treat inflammatory diseases , most of them have side effects. Studies have found that curcumin's anti-inflammatory activity is comparable to steroidal and non- steroidal drugs such as indomethacin and phenylbutazone, and is safe in most cases.

 Identify of Curcuma

  1. Conventional method

     ethanol solution of color reaction A sample should be pure yellow and have light green fluorescence; if concentrated sulfuric acid is added to this ethanol extract , a deep purple-red color will be produced. Color development reaction B: Treat the aqueous solution or dilute ethanol solution of the sample with hydrochloric acid until it begins to turn slightly orange.

Divide this mixture into two parts and add a small amount of boric acid powder or crystals to one part. The color will turn significantly red compared to the part without boric acid. You can also immerse several pieces of filter paper in the ethanol solution of the pigment, dry it at 100 °C , and then moisten it with a dilute solution of boric acid (add a few drops of hydrochloric acid). It should be cherry red after drying.

2. Chromatography

Take 5 mL of the test solution (0.01g sample dissolved in 1mL 95% ethanol) and drop it on the thin layer chromatograph (microcrystalline cellulose, 0.1mm), and place it in a container of 3-methyl-1-butanol/ethanol/water/ In the development tank of ammonia (4:4:2:1) mixed solution, the solvent front is raised by 10 to 15 cm. Observed under ultraviolet light after one day and night: there are three yellow spots with Rf between 0.2 and 0.4; the Rf of other spots are between 0.6 and 0.8; all spots show yellow fluorescence under ultraviolet light. 6.95% ethanol solution has a maximum absorption peak at 425 nm.

Extraction process

     There are various methods for extracting curcumin, and each has its own characteristics in the process, but in general it is divided into two major steps: extraction and refining. In recent years, many new technologies and processes have been applied in the extraction and refining process of curcumin. Enzymatic method was used to extract curcumin from turmeric. Compared with the traditional extraction process, the yield increased by 8.1%. The extraction process conditions were: enzymatic hydrolysis temperature 50 °C , pH 4.5, time 120 min, and enzyme concentration 0.35 mg/ml. Using the HPLC method as the measurement method and the curcumin extraction amount as the inspection index, the orthogonal experiment method was used to optimize the extraction process. It was concluded that the best process for ultrasonic extraction of curcumin is to add 8 times the amount of alkaline water with a pH value of 12, and extract 4 times, each extraction takes 40 minutes.