Antioxidant Potential of Phytoconstituents with Special Emphasis on Curcumin

Various fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, edible macrofungi, microalgae, and medicinal plants are containing phytoconstituents which are considered to be antioxidants. Polyphenols and carotenoids are the two main kinds of antioxidant phytochemicals and they contribute the most to the antioxidant properties of plant and its derivatives are widely employed as antioxidants. Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant (Curcuma longa) of the ginger family. The medicinal properties of turmeric, the source of curcumin, have been known for thousands of years; however, the ability to determine the exact mechanism(s) of action and to determine the bioactive components have only recently been investigated. Curcumin (1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione), also called diferuloylmethane, is the main natural polyphenol found in the rhizome of Curcuma longa (turmeric) and in others Curcuma spp. Curcumin, a polyphenol, has been shown to target multiple signaling molecules while also demonstrating activity at the cellular level, which has helped to support its multiple health benefits such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, antimicrobial and anticancer properties. Curcumin has received worldwide attention for its multiple health benefits, which appear to act primarily through its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.