Turmeric has been a key player in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years, mentioning its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which have gained increasing popularity in modern medicine (Hewlings and Kalman, 2017). As of present, the use of turmeric or its main polyphenol compound curcumin has been investigated as a therapy in conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Osteoarthritis and Schizophrenia to either improve symptoms or the condition itself (Hewlings and Kalman, 2017). Although the antioxidant properties of turmeric have been studied to combat oxidative stress within these conditions, there is a lack of studies which implement traditional turmeric-based products as a treatment and little supporting evidence of how effective turmeric-based vitamin products are as antioxidants. This study aimed to investigate the antioxidant properties of various traditional fresh (FT) and powdered (PT) turmeric-based preparations with or without black pepper (BP) which were boiled in either milk or water and three different turmeric-based vitamin products. Their antioxidant properties were tested using a superoxide scavenging assay in a Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide + Hydrogen-Phenazine Methosulfate system, where the percentage inhibition of Nitro Blue Tetrazolium Chloride was calculated using absorbance values from a spectrophotometer to determine the amount of superoxide scavenging from the assay. ANOVA results showed a significant difference between all milk-based assays (F(5, 18)=10.99, p<0.0001) (Figure 1) and water-based assays (F(5,18)=384.1, p<0.0001) (Figure 2). Within milk, powdered turmeric showed the highest percentage inhibition (44.19%) (Figure 1) and powdered turmeric and black pepper showed the highest percentage inhibition in water (49.65%) (Figure 2). Within our data, all assays showed percentage inhibition besides water as a control and fresh turmeric in water, which was deemed an unexpected result. All three vitamin products exhibited antioxidant properties (F(3, 12) = 218.7, p<0.0001) (Figure 3), with Holland & Barratt (H&B) having a significantly higher percentage inhibition compared to the other two products (p<0.0001) (Figure 3), suggesting it displays the highest efficacy. These findings quantify the antioxidant properties of both traditional turmeric-based preparations and turmeric-based vitamin products and reveal the efficacy of their free radical scavenging properties. Evidence from these results suggests that traditional turmeric-based assays are effective as antioxidants in certain combinations, particularly when extracted in milk overall. Furthermore, Holland & Barrett displayed the highest percentage inhibition, which suggests that it may be the most effective therapy and that not all turmeric-based vitamin products display high free radical scavenging properties despite their claims. These results provide preliminary data which suggests that using turmeric-based preparations or vitamin products could be as an antioxidant to combat oxidative stress which has been suggested to be present in multiple neuropathologies. Findings from this study could be translated into further studies, such as in vitro cell work to test the efficacy of turmeric-based preparations and vitamin products to determine their effectiveness in combatting oxidative stress or potentially long-term in vivo studies to observe how they may improve various neuropathologies and their symptoms which may be induced or worsen by oxidative stress.
Physiology in Focus 2024 (Northumbria University, UK) (2024) Proc Physiol Soc 59, PCB064
Poster Communications: The Use and Effectiveness of Traditional Turmeric-Based Preparations and Vitamin Products as Antioxidants in Combating Oxidative Stress in Various Neuropathologies
Krishma Parwana1, Marta Wołoszynowska-Fraser1, Jenny Moran1,
1Keele University Keele United Kingdom,
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Where applicable, experiments conform with Society ethical requirements.