Figure 2.

Metabolites of curcumin. After being taken up by enterocytes, curcumin molecules are metabolized. Through reductase, sulfotransferase, and glucuronosyltransferase enzymes, the systemic level of curcumin is reduced. Several metabolites of curcumin are shown; among these metabolites, tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) has been the focus of recent studies and is discussed in later paragraphs. Pathways in blue represent the reductions of curcumin by NADPH; pathways in purple are the conjugations of curcumin and its following reductions.