Fig. 1.

Schematic transition of “curcumin” into “curcumin nanoformulations”. a Graphical represention of literature using PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/), patents (Google Patents), and clinical trial (https://clinicaltrials.gov/) websites (search conducted April 2015). b Implication of curcumin and nanocurcumin (curcumin nanoformulations) in various diseases (asterisk indicates widely studied implication). c Feasible delivery methods of curcumin and curcumin nanoformulations (asterisk represents commonly used route to deliver curcumin). d Commonly used types of nanocarriers (1–8: polymer nanoparticles, solid nanoparticles, liposome/lipid nanoparticles, micelles, dendrimers, polymer conjugates, nanogels, and metal/metal oxide nanoparticles, respectively) to deliver curcumin efficiently