Development and Validation of UV-Visible Spectrophotometric method for the Estimation of Curcumin and Tetrahydrocurcumin in Simulated Intestinal Fluid

Background: Due to solubility issues of curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin, there is a need for the development of a UV-Visible spectrophotometric method that can estimate the drug release precisely and accurately. The addition of surfactant in the dissolution medium in low concentration achieved bio-comparable surface activity and can be used to estimate the drug release from formulations by avoiding sink conditions. Objective: The purpose of the present investigation was to develop a simple and précise UV-Visible spectrophotometric method for the determination of curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin after oral administration. Method: A UV-Visible spectrophotometric method was developed using an appropriate solvent system for the estimation of curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin. The solvent system having simulated intestinal fluid and particular concentration of surfactant was selected and further validated according to guidelines of the international conference on harmonization (ICH), the analytical parameter like linearity, precision and accuracy, etc. were studied. Results: Simulated intestinal fluid pH 7.4 with tween 80 at 1 % concentration satisfied all the conditions relative to peak quality at the stated wavelength for curcumin and intestinal fluid pH 7.4 with tween 80 at 0.5% concentration satisfied all the conditions relative to Peak quality at the stated wavelength for tetrahydrocurcumin. The developed methods were found within the range of all the validation parameters. Conclusion: The proposed method was found to be very simple and precise and can be used for routine quantitative analysis of curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin.