Abstract
Turmeric is a popular spice used in South Asia for both culinary and religious purposes.
It has also been used in traditional Indian medicine called Ayurveda. More recently curcumin
has been identified to be the active ingredient in turmeric, and its pharmacological basis has been
identified. The paper examines the extraction, processing and refinement of curcumin with
special emphasis on testing and characterization. This study focuses on the comparison of UV
Spectrophotometry and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) for characterizing
purity of curcumin with the view of selecting the best technique for this particular commercial
application. Field application was a key criterion in the selection. Based on the results HPLC
was selected as the technique of choice for curcumin characterization application due to various
factors such as accuracy of results, low cost, ease of use in the field, simplicity of sample
preparation, robustness, quality and reliability.
Keshav S. Thvar
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