Novel Tablet Dosage Forms to Improve the Oral Bioavailability of Curcumin: A Short Review

Curcumin is a yellow pigment that is considered as the major biologically active compound of turmeric plant. Curcumin has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-neoplastic, and anti-depressant properties. However, due to poor oral bioavailability, its applications has been largely hampered in the clinical settings. Currently, advances in curcumin formulations to different dosage forms such as tablets, capsules or semisolid preparations have been resulted in solving its poor oral bioavailability and subsequently increasing the blood levels of drug for therapeutic activity. In this article, the ongoing researches of formulation of curcumin into different dosage forms that have been used to improve its oral bioavailability has reviewed. In particular, we have focused on formulation of curcumin into tablet dosage forms because the tablet is the most popular type of dosage form for the patients.