Curcuma longa, a perennial herb of the family genus turmeric, was used as a natural pigment in the food industry in the ancient era. The medicinal efficacy and function of curcumin in cancer treatment and disease prevention have been investigated for several decades, prompting new methods for extraction, purification, synthesis, and optimization of curcumin production and applications. The remarkable studies that investigated the extraction and purification of curcumin are available, but most of the techniques are still at the lab level. In this review, comprehensively, we have discussed the currently developed curcumin extraction, synthesis, and transformation techniques. Additionally, the poor solubility and low bioavailability of curcumin in the human stomach have hindered its pharmaceutical applications. However, recent advances in preparing new curcumin formulations using nanotechnology delivery systems have brought new strategies to deliver and maximize curcumin utilization by the human body efficiently. Moreover, we have dissected the advantages and limitations of each approach and discussed the futuristic prospects to develop efficient and commercially applicable approaches to utilize curcumin and its derivatives.

姜黄姜黄属多年生草本植物，在古代被用作食品工业的天然色素。姜黄素在癌症治疗和疾病预防中的药效和功能已经被研究了几十年，催生了提取、纯化、合成和优化姜黄素生产和应用的新方法。研究姜黄素的提取和纯化的非凡研究是可用的，但大多数技术仍处于实验室水平。在这篇综述中，我们全面讨论了目前开发的姜黄素提取、合成和转化技术。此外，姜黄素在人胃中的溶解度差和生物利用度低，阻碍了其药物应用。然而，使用纳米技术递送系统制备新姜黄素制剂的最新进展带来了新的策略，以有效递送和最大限度地提高人体对姜黄素的利用。此外，我们剖析了每种方法的优点和局限性，并讨论了开发利用姜黄素及其衍生物的有效和商业适用方法的未来前景。