Thermal stability, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin and its degradation product 4-vinyl guaiacol

authored by

T. Esatbeyoglu, K. Ulbrich, C. Rehberg, S. Rohn, G. Rimbach

Abstract

Curcumin is a secondary plant metabolite present in Curcuma longa L. Since curcumin is widely used as a food colorant in thermally processed food it may undergo substantial chemical changes which in turn could affect its biological activity. In the current study, curcumin was roasted at 180°C up to 70 minutes and its kinetic of degradation was analyzed by means of HPLC-PDA and LC-MS, respectively. Roasting of curcumin resulted in the formation of the degradation products vanillin, ferulic acid, and 4-vinyl guaiacol. In cultured hepatocytes roasted curcumin as well as 4-vinyl guaiacol enhanced the transactivation of the redox-regulated transcription factor Nrf2, known to be centrally involved in cellular stress response and antioxidant defense mechanisms. The antioxidant enzyme paraoxonase 1 was induced by roasted curcumin and 4-vinyl guaiacol. Furthermore, roasted curcumin and 4-vinyl guaiacol decreased interleukin-6 gene expression in lipopolysaccharide stimulated murine macrophages. Current data suggest that curcumin undergoes degradation due to roasting and its degradation product exhibit significant biological activity in cultured cells.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition
Molecular Food Chemistry and Food Development

Type

Article

Journal

Food and Function

Volume

6

Pages

887-893

No. of pages

7

ISSN

2042-6496

Publication date

01.03.2015

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Food Science

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1039/c4fo00790e (Access: Open)