Tetrahydrocurcumin (THCu) is one of the major reduction metabolites of curcumin (CUR), which is a well-known yellow food pigment from turmeric with strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. THCu exhibits better solubility, stability, bioavailability than CUR and similar pharmacological activities. In recent years, the market demand for the colorless THCu has a large growth for its application in the field of functional foods and cosmetics due to its strong antioxidant and skin-whitening function. Current industrial production mainly relies on chemical synthesis. The environmental-friendly and good-selectivity synthesis methods like microbial/enzymatic transformation might be better alternative. Several microorganisms have been reported with the capability of CUR reduction. Good-selectivity enzymes also have been characterized like alcohol dehydrogenase from equine liver and curcumin reductase from gut bacteria. This review focuses on the production technology of THCu and summarizes researches on its new chemical synthesis strategies, possible bioconversion methods, detection methods and potential applications.

四氢姜黄素 (THCu) 是姜黄素 (CUR) 的主要还原代谢物之一，姜黄素是一种众所周知的黄色食用色素，具有很强的抗氧化、抗炎和抗菌特性。THCu 表现出比 CUR 更好的溶解性、稳定性、生物利用度和相似的药理活性。近年来，无色THCu因其强大的抗氧化和美白功能，在功能性食品和化妆品领域的应用，市场需求量大幅增长。目前的工业生产主要依靠化学合成。微生物/酶促转化等环境友好且选择性好的合成方法可能是更好的选择。已经报道了几种微生物具有降低 CUR 的能力。具有良好选择性的酶也被表征为来自马肝脏的乙醇脱氢酶和来自肠道细菌的姜黄素还原酶。本文综述了THCu的生产技术，总结了其新的化学合成策略、可能的生物转化方法、检测方法和潜在应用的研究。