A new research article on the high bioavailability of curcuRouge® has been published.

A systematic review* article, published in Functional Food Science journal, indicates that curcuRouge® has the highest relative bioavailability per mg curcumin among the commercially available absorption-enhanced curcumin formulations.

* A systematic Review: An evaluation based on a systematic comparison of multiple relevant studies.

[Summary of Results]

A systematic review of bioavailability based on a per mg curcumin dose was performed from the published studies of commercially available absorption-enhanced curcumin formulations.

• curcuRouge® is 162.7 times higher relative bioavailability per mg curcumin compared to standard curcumin extracts.

• curcuRouge® shows the highest bioavailability per mg curcumin among absorption-enhanced curcumin formulations.

【Title】

Pharmacokinetic studies of commercially available curcumin formulations in healthy humans: A systematic comparison with novel highly bioavailable curcuRouge® formulation

【Authors】

Mahendra Parkash Kapoor, Tadashi Hashimoto, Yasuhiro Katsuura, Hiroki Aoyama, Kanako Tanigaki, Atsuhiro Kishimoto (Therabiopharma Inc.)

【Journal title】

Functional Food Science, 2025; 5(12): 782-804

【Abstract】

Curcumin has been widely studied for its therapeutic potential, but its clinical efficacy is limited by poor bioavailability. Various strategies have been developed to enhance curcumin absorption.

This systematic review evaluated the pharmacokinetic performance of commercially available absorption-enhanced curcumin formulations by comparing their AUC0-t and Cmax values, normalized per milligram of curcumin, against unformulated standard extracts.

Among the formulations analyzed, curcuRouge®, an amorphous curcumin formulation, demonstrated the highest absorption (AUC0-t: 17.23 ng/mL·h) and peak concentration (Cmax: 5.47 ng/mL), significantly outperforming others (P < 0.05). CurQfen® (9.86 ng/mL·h) and NovaSol® (10.91 ng/mL·h) showed similar but lower absorption than curcuRouge®.  Relative to unformulated curcumin, curcuRouge® showed a 162.7-fold increase in bioavailability, making it approximately 1.7 and 1.6 times more bioavailable than NovaSol® and CurQfen®, respectively. In terms of Cmax, curcuRouge® was 182.0-fold and higher than NovaSol® (96.5-fold) and CurQfen® (116.5-fold), indicating it is 1.9 and 1.6 times more absorbable, respectively.

These findings suggest that curcuRouge® represents a significant advancement in curcumin delivery with its amorphous structure and enhanced dissolution rate. This analysis offers a robust comparative framework for evaluating bioavailability in commercial curcumin formulations and highlights curcuRouge® as a promising option for improved therapeutic efficacy.

Highlights:

1. Curcumin’s therapeutic use is limited due to poor bioavailability.

2. Study compares the pharmacokinetics of absorption-enhanced curcumin formulations.

3. Amorphous structure promotes curcuRouge® stability, solubility and absorption efficiency.

4. curcuRouge® showed excellent bioavailability than other curcumin formulations at modest doses.

View paper

Go to Functional Food Science Page

Study Design	A Systematic Review
Research target and method	Clinical studies evaluating bioavailability using high absorptive curcumin formulations were systematically collected and bioavailability based on a per mg curcumin dose was statistically analyzed. （Information sources: Scopus, PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Google Scholar, the Cochran Library)
Curcumin products	curcuRouge®, BCM-95®/Biocurcumax™, BioCruc®/CLDM, CavaCurmin®, CurcuWn®, CurQfen, C3 Complex®＋Piperine, Longvida®, Meriva®, NovaSol®, Theracurmin®
Indicators	AUC0-t and Cmax per mg curcumin Relative bioavailability (AUC0-t and Cmax) per mg curcumin compared to standard curcumin extracts.

• curcuRouge® is 162.7 times higher relative bioavailability per mg curcumin compared to standard curcumin extracts.

• curcuRouge® shows the highest bioavailability per mg curcumin among absorption-enhanced curcumin formulations.