New Study Compares Absorption of Curcumin Formulations

The potential health benefits of curcumin are limited due to its poor solubility, low absorption from the intestines, rapid metabolism and rapid systemic elimination. A human clinical trial comparing standard curcumin and several commercial curcumin products with enhanced bioavailability show CurcuWIN from OmniActive Health Technologies significantly increased serum curcuminoid levels 46 times over standard curcumin (Nutrition Journal 2014, 13:11 doi:10.1186/1475-2891-13-11).

The randomized, double-blind crossover study was conduction by the University of Tampa in collaboration with Increnovo LLC, a contract research and consulting company supporting scientific, clinical research and product development in the dietary supplement and food and beverage industries. The study showed an increase in serum levels of total curcuminoids (curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin) and the metabolite tetrahydrocurcumin after oral administration of three different curcumin formulations and an unformulated standard curcumin.

The study was completed by 12 healthy participants, testing each form of curcumin under fasting conditions with a  washout period between dosing. FDA proposed bioavailability measures including AUC, Tmax, Cmax and relative absorption were conducted. Not only did CurcuWIN outperform standard curcumin, it also outperformed other enhanced curcumin products on the market.

OmniActive offers a range of ingredients for dietary supplementation, nutritional fortification, functional food and beverage, coloring, flavor enhancement and personal care applications. Its core products are carotenoids, spice and plant extracts and specialty functional ingredients.