Activity of water-soluble turmeric extract using hydrophilic excipients

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is extensively used in a number of ailments by the traditional medical practitioners. Traditionally turmeric is extracted with different non-edible organic solvents or supercritical fluid extraction using carbon dioxide and suffers from many drawbacks as it fails to achieve aqueous solubility, acceptable content of active principle in edible form and stability in biofluids. In the present work we report application of food-grade polyglycolized glycerides to obtain water-soluble extract of turmeric, which contains lipophilic curcuminoids in the aqueous phase. Extraction of turmeric using amphiphilic vehicles such as Gelucire 44/14, Gelucire 50/13, and PEG 6000 was able to achieve aqueous solubility. Gelucire 44/14 gives the maximum concentration of curcuminoids than extraction with Gelucire 50/13 and PEG 6000, as quantified with RP-HPLC. Turmeric extract was further screened for in vitro free radical scavenging assays, ROS scavenging ability and cell proliferation activity in cell line.