Application of ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry to identify curcumin metabolites produced by human intestinal bacteria

• Metabolic profile of curcumin in human intestinal flora was analyzed.
• UPLC–Q-TOF MS with MetaboLynxXS for fast analysis was applied.
• A total of 23 metabolites were detected and identified.
• Some novel metabolic pathways were identified.
• Intestinal bacteria played an important role in the metabolism of curcumin.

Curcumin, a yellow pigment derived from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa Linn, is a natural antioxidant that exhibits a variety of pharmacological activities and therapeutic properties. However, as curcumin is generally conjugated when absorbed through the intestine, free curcumin is present at extremely low levels in the body. Thus, curcumin metabolites are presumed to be responsible for curcumin bioactivity. In this study, we describe a strategy using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–Q-TOF MS) with automated data analysis software (MetaboLynxXS) for rapid analysis of the metabolic profile of curcumin in human intestinal flora. The results show that curcumin undergoes extensive phase I and phase II metabolism. A total of 23 curcumin metabolites were detected and identified in vitro. Furthermore, we identified a number of novel metabolic pathways of curcumin in the human intestinal microflora system.

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