Vitamin D Deficiency and Cardiovascular Risk: weare still in the Dark

For decades, observational  studies has provided evidence of the association between reduced levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It is generally accepted that vitamin D deficiency is in some way related to adverse cardiovascular outcomes. It has been postulated that this association may be a result of reverse causality in which unhealthy and less mobile individuals are less likely to be exposed to sunlight , or perhaps due to a physiological chain of events in which low vitamin D concentrations promote downstream vascular remodeling andhemodynamic instability.And yet, after thousands of studies have been published on the topic, the global medical community remains very much in the dark regarding whether a true relationship exists between vitamin D deficiency and increased cardiovascular risk. 

A small number of clinical trials which have aimed to assess the possibility of a direct, causal relationship between low vitamin D concentrations and poor cardiovascular outcomes in select patient populations do exist. Unfortunately, metaanalyses of these trials demonstrate widespread inconsistency in trial duration, sample size, type of vitamin D intervention and route of administration, and primary outcomes. As a result, the medical landscape is barren of vitamin D trials with consistent, pragmatic designs formulated a priori to assess cardiovascular outcomes and thus the depth of knowledge of vitamin D has remained stagnant.

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Genetic Diversity for Zinc, Calcium and Iron Content of Selected Little Millet Genotypes

The gradual change in climatic conditions particularly rainfall receipt and distribution in tropical and subtropical regions of the world necessitates productivity enhancement of stress tolerant crops such as small millets as one option for food security. Little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth. ex. Roem. and Schultz.) is an important indigenous small millets crop. It is well known for its drought tolerance and is considered as one of the least water demanding crops. Micronutrient malnutrition resulting from the consumption of diets deficient in minerals, vitamins and essential amino acids, affects more than one-half of the world’s population especially women and children in developing countries . 

The nutritional quality of little millet grain is superior to many other major cereals. It is also contains B vitamins, especially niacin, B6 and folic acid calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc . Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder in the world affecting over 4 billion people, with more than 2 billion people, mainly in developing countries, actually being anemic . Zinc deficiency in humans reduces growth, sexual maturity and the immune defence system . Whole grains of little millet may have health promoting effects equal to or even in higher amount than fruits and vegetables and have a protective effect against insulin resistance, heart diseases, diabetes, ischemic stroke, obesity, breast cancer, childhood asthma and premature death.Read more......

Changes in Tomato Metabolism by Applying 1,8-Cineole

Column chromatography was performed using silica gel 60 (200-300 mesh, Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) and Sephadex LH- 20 (Sigma, St Louis, Mo). For thin layer chromatography, silica gel 60 F254-impregnated aluminum sheets (0.25 mm, Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) were used. Compounds were detected under UV light (254, 360 nm) after spraying with vanillin (3% in H2SO4) and heating at 110°C.

1H, 13C and 2D NMR spectra of the isolated compounds were recorded on a Bruker DRX 300 spectrometer (Bruker Bio-Spin GmbH, Rheinstetten, Germany) operating at 300 MHz for 1H and 75 MHz for 13C NMR, using CDCl3 (Sigma, St Louis, Mo, USA) as the solvent, and TMS as an internal standard.

Tomato fruits

Organic tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) var. Chonto were obtained directly from a farmer located in El Retiro, Antioquia (Colombia). All fruits were selected unripe, woundless and weighting 110-115 g. The cleaningand disinfection process was carried out with distillated water and then immersed in sodium hypochlorite 2% for 5 minutes; finally, fruits were rinsed again with distillated water.

The treatment of tomatoes with 1,8-cineole was carried out in transparent boxes 35 x 19 x 12 cm previously sterilized, each box containing 8 green tomatoes (approx. 1 kg), randomly selected. On a Petri dish placed at the bottom, 300 L of pure 1,8-cineole were added and then the box was gently closed. Tomatoes were kept at 25°C, 95% of relative humidity, for 120 hours, using a 12 hour photoperiod. Assays were made by triplicate, with a control group of untreated cineole tomatoes.

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Obesity Risk Factors among Beirut Arab University Students in TripoliLebanon

Through a cross-sectional study design a survey was conducted at Beirut Arab University (BAU) -Tripoli campus during the fall semester 2014/2015. To calculate the sample size a 30% prevalence rate of obesity was assumed with 95% confidence interval and 5% precision. The minimum required simple random sample was 266. Assuming a design effect of two to account for the effect of clusters the total final sample was 532 students. A proportionate cluster sample was selected (clusters being the 6 faculties at BAU). After exclusion of incomplete questionnaires 497 students aged 18-25 years were included in the study (49.3% males & 50.7% females).

The study was approved by the institutional review board at BAU. Data collection was performed by trained researchers. Subjects were included if they fulfilled the inclusion criteria of being a Lebanese regular student within the age group of 18-25 years. The exclusion criteria included any student having any chronic metabolic disease like diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney or liver diseases and regular intake of specific drugs that may affect appetite or weight control. Those who expressed interest and provided their oral consent were recruited to participate in the study.

A structured anonymous interview questionnaire was developed by the authors based on previously published instruments which have been standardized and validated to be used among university students. The questionnaire included questions to assess the sociodemographic characteristics, diet and food intake patterns and lifestyle behaviours followed by anthropometric measurements.

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Obesity Risk Factors among Beirut Arab University Students in TripoliLebanon

Through a cross-sectional study design a survey was conducted at Beirut Arab University (BAU) -Tripoli campus during the fall semester 2014/2015. To calculate the sample size a 30% prevalence rate of obesity was assumed with 95% confidence interval and 5% precision. The minimum required simple random sample was 266. Assuming a design effect of two to account for the effect of clusters the total final sample was 532 students. A proportionate cluster sample was selected (clusters being the 6 faculties at BAU). After exclusion of incomplete questionnaires 497 students aged 18-25 years were included in the study (49.3% males & 50.7% females).

The study was approved by the institutional review board at BAU. Data collection was performed by trained researchers. Subjects were included if they fulfilled the inclusion criteria of being a Lebanese regular student within the age group of 18-25 years. The exclusion criteria included any student having any chronic metabolic disease like diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney or liver diseases and regular intake of specific drugs that may affect appetite or weight control. Those who expressed interest and provided their oral consent were recruited to participate in the study.

A structured anonymous interview questionnaire was developed by the authors based on previously published instruments which have been standardized and validated to be used among university students. The questionnaire included questions to assess the sociodemographic characteristics, diet and food intake patterns and lifestyle behaviours followed by anthropometric measurements.

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Moisture Sorption Isotherm of Preconditioned Pressure Parboiled Brown Rice

Rice ranks first in terms of global production (603 million tonnes) and used as a staple food for approximately 400 million people in the developing countries. India exports 5% of the produced rice to the international market and compete with Thailand, Vietnam, and Pakistan. About 10% of the production of paddy is converted to three rice products, namely, puffed rice, popped rice and flaked rice. Among the rice based breakfast cereals, puffed rice is largely demanded product for centuries in India because of its lightness and crispness. When grains such as rice, paddy, corn, gram etc. are heated, vapour pressure of water inside the grain increases. At a certain temperature and after certain duration of time the vapour pressure becomes high which causes expansion of the grain and the process is called puffing.

Preconditioning of rice is the most critical factor for obtaining highly expanded smooth-surface puffed rice. The process comprises of uniform and slow heating of moisture-salt-conditioned parboiled rice with continuous turning until optimum moisture content of puffing (10% w.b.) is attained. Non uniform heating of grain severely impairs the quality of product with less expansion ratio in addition to rough and blistered surface. Further, puffing efficiency for rice grain depends on several factors, including the nature and concentration of salts diffused into the kernel.

Water activity of food material is determined as the ratio of vapour pressure of water in the food to vapour pressure of pure water at the same temperature. Many food deterioration reactions and the growth of important microorganisms depend on the water activity of the food and water activity is thus an important parameter to predict food stability. In order to determine the storage conditions, it is necessary to know the relationship between the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) in the rice and equilibrium relative humidity of the aeration air at a given temperature.

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Impact of Long-Term Conventional Cropping Practices on Some Soil Quality Indicators at Ethiopian Wonji Sugarcane Plantation

Sugar cane production is one of the largest and most important agro-industries around the world in general and in developing countries in particular. Nowadays, sugar cane is considered as a Dollar Earner for tropical countries due to its immense potential to generate hard currency . Therefore, achieving sustainable cane production is an increasingly important goal in recent years so as to exploit this potential. However, in several sugar cane producing countries around the world, decline in sugar cane yield appears to be the major preoccupation of the agroindustry.

Likewise, sugar cane yield decline is currently becoming the major area of attention in the Ethiopian sugar cane plantations. Although, Ethiopia is one of the countries with the highest sugar cane yield in the world the yield has been declining already for many years. For instance over the last 50 years, the cane yield per ha in Wonji sugar cane plantation has dropped by about 40%.

Thus, the future viability of the agro-industry will be doubtful unless the yield decline could be stopped. Therefore, identifying and understanding the cause of the yield decline has paramount importance to design and recommend appropriate management strategies. This is particularly essential in view of the current Ethiopian government ambitious plan to augment the sugar production capacity of the country.

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Effect of Konjac Glucomannan on Hyperuricemic Rats

Uric acid (UA) is the poorly soluble circulating end product of purine nucleotide metabolism in human beings. Hyperuricemia, caused by purine metabolism disorder or reduction in uric acid excretion is the most important biochemical basis of gout. It is generally accepted that hyperuricemia has also been shown to correlate with the cluster of metabolic disorders, closely associate with the features of metabolic syndrome  and chronic renal lesion.

Besides, hyperuricemic patients are also at greater risk for evolving into many conditions such as metabolic, cardiovascular, renal and many other comorbidities, which collectively result in an increased mortality. Drugs such as benzbromarone, probenecid, and allopurinol are usually used in the treatment of hyperuricemia, However, these drugscan only be used to relieve the illness, long-term use of the drugs would lead to side effects on liver and kidney. Epidemiological evidence has indicated that diet may reduce the risk of chronic disease. Therefore, it is an important aspect and an inevitable trend to make use of bioactive food components to mitigate hyperuricemia.

Konjac glucomannan (KGM), a kind of excellent dietary fiber polysaccharide, has been broadly used as food, food additive and traditional Chinese medicine for a long history. It has been reported that KGM has several valuable functions of healthcare and pharmacology, such as obesity-suppression, tumor-suppression, as well as the treatment of cough, hernia, and skin disorders. However, what worth mentioning is that no one studied the effect of KGM on hyperuricemia before. In the preset study, rats were used as model animals to investigate the effect and potential mechanisms of KGM on hyperuricemia, and the effect of KGM on renal histological lesion was also analyzed.

Phenotypic Diversity Studies on Selected Kenyan and Tanzanian Rice

Rice (Oryza spices) is a monocotyledonous plant belonging to the family Granineae and subfamily Oryzoidea. It is ranked second to wheat among the most cultivated cereals in the world. Due to its importance as a food crop, rice is being planted on approximately 11% of the Earth’s cultivated land area. During crop improvement strategies, selection on breeding lines depends on a given set of criteria found suitable to a particular environment and for specific application.

This process has led to development of morphologically related genotypes. Phenotypic similarity poses threats of epidemic of pests and diseases. To address this problem, phenotypic characterization is important in breeding program to avoid this inherent danger of phenotypic uniformity. In addition, landraces offers valuable genetic materials that can be utilized in future crop development and improvement programs. High yielding varieties which are the back bone of green revolution have led to erosion of landraces and wild varieties of rice5. Importance of landraces can never be ignored in agriculture system. 

This is because improvement in existing varieties depends upon desirable genes which are possibly present in landraces and wild varieties only.

Therefore, characterization of phenotypic diversity on existing landraces of rice reveals important traits of interest that can be utilized in rice improvement programs. A number of research studies on phenotypic diversity assessment of various rice varieties around the world based on grain and kernel traits have been carried out. However, phenotypic diversity studies on rice genotypes from Kenya and Tanzania based on grain and kernel traits has not yet been studied before.

Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the phenotypic diversity on selected rice (Oryza sativa L) genotypes from Kenya and Tanzania along other 2 genotypes from Philippine based on 7 grain and kernel traits and to identify the traits that contribute to the total variation among the rice genotypes studied. Information generated from phenotyping these genotypes can be utilized in rice breeding programs.

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Analysis to Detect Main Effect of QTL Associated with Sheath Blight Resistance in BPT Rice

In the present scenario of increasing global human population, decreasing arable land, predicted increases of water scarcity, soil salinity, severe diseases, emerging resistance of pests and pathogens to pesticides and climate change pose significant challenges to modern rice research. The biotic stresses viz. blast , stem rot, sheath blight, and bacterial blight diseases cause severe economic losses to rice productivity. Among them Sheath blight (ShB) is an important fungal disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn causing up to 25% of yield loss and degrades rice quality.

With the increasing application of nitrogenous fertilizers and the popularization of semi dwarf cultivars with more tillers, ShB is becoming the most serious disease in many rice-producing areas in the world. The fungus R. solani Kuhn is soil borne pathogen which survives either as sclerotia or mycelia in plant debris. After the initial infection, the pathogen moves on the plant through surface hyphae and develops new infection structures over the entire plant, causing significant necrotic damage. The architecture of the canopy and the associated microclimate has strong effects on both the mobilization of primary inoculums and the further spread of the disease.

In rice because of availability of high resolution molecular maps, complete sequence information and extensive germplasm collections, mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for disease resistance such as sheath blight is feasible in crop improvement programme. In this context has reported for the first time the identification of rice QTL resistant to ShB using RFLP markers. To date, around 50 ShB resistance QTLs (ShBR QTLs) have been detected over all 12 rice chromosomes in cultivated varieties, deep-water varieties and wild species.

Production of Cloudifier Products from Lemon, Orange, Melon, Persimmon Fruit and its Automation

It has been known that there is a relationship between our health and food. In this regard, the juice (lemon, orange, persimmon fruit, melon) which contains the largest amount of pectin, modified pectin, soluble fibre, citrus flavonoids, vitamin C, large amounts of vitamin A and lycopene [4-6], antioxidants is the natural product with beneficial health properties. In the previous study  observed that the modified pectin will be effective against cancers of the breast, colon and pancreatic cancer, and melanoma. For example, the inhibition of cancer cell proliferation (HT29 colon line) was obtained from the sample of modified pectin by using 1 g to 1 L concentration.

The inhibition of cancer cell proliferation (SW480 colon line) was obtained with the modified pectin sample by using 2 g to 1 L concentration too. The slight decrease in cell viability (JIMT1 cell line) relative to the control at the two concentrations employed was obtained for the modified pectin sample. The inhibition of cancer cell proliferation (B16/f10 cell line) was obtained with the modified pectin sample by using 2 g to 1L concentration.

From the nutritional point of view, persimmon fruit and persimmon fruit’ juice contains large amounts of vitamin A and lycopene, antioxidants, soluble fibre and pectins. Lycopene considerable input gives this result such as a great antioxidant power that can act to protect cells from oxidative stress produced by the action of free radicals. This cell phenomenon is responsible for major cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer and aging.

Vitamin D Deficiency and Cardiovascular Risk: we’re still in the Dark

For decades, observational studies has provided evidence of the association between reduced levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It is generally accepted that vitamin D deficiency is in some way related to adverse cardiovascular outcomes. It has been postulated that this association may be a result of reverse causality in which unhealthy and less mobile individuals are less likely to be exposed to sunlight, or perhaps due to a physiological chain of events in which low vitamin D concentrations promote downstream vascular remodeling and hemodynamic instability.

And yet, after thousands of studies have been published on the topic, the global medical community remains very much in the dark regarding whether a true relationship exists between vitamin D deficiency and increased cardiovascular risk. A small number of clinical trials which have aimed to assess the possibility of a direct, causal relationship between low vitamin D concentrations and poor cardiovascularoutcomes in select patient populations do exist. Unfortunately, metaanalyses of these trials demonstrate widespread inconsistency in trial duration, sample size, type of vitamin D intervention and route of administration, and primary outcomes. 

One large patient population may be able to shine a much-needed spotlight on this topic. Individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD), specifically those with end-stage kidney disease requiring dialysis, experience dramatically increased risk of cardiovascular disease compared to that of the general population. In addition, the progressive loss of kidney function also results in disruption of regular vitamin D metabolism, thus the prevalence of severe vitamin D deficiency in this patient population is extremely high. 

In general, approximately 25% of all deaths in CKD are attributed to Sudden Cardiac Arrhythmic death (SCD), which results primarily from miscommunication between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the cardiac Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) and the atrio-ventricular and sino-atrial nodes of the heart. Changes in sinus rhythm controlled by the electrical signals passed from the ANS to the heart can be quantified by measuring Heart Rate Variability (HRV) with a typical ambulatory heart monitor. 

Economic and Environmental Performances of Organic Farming System Compared to Conventional Farming System

The impact of agriculture on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change is important. Agriculture is a cause and victim of climate change. Also the agricultural sector is still the most important economic sector in many African countries, the one employing most people and the one where poverty prevails. Climate is one of the main determinants of agricultural productivity and climate change is expected to influence crop and livestock production. The majority of households in developing countries depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and this dependency on agriculture make them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

In Senegal, the livelihoods of about 77% of the population depend on small-scale agriculture, which is adversely affected by the consequences of climate change. During the next decades, billions of people, particularly those in developing countries, will face changes in rainfall patterns that will contribute to severe water shortages or flooding, and raising temperatures that will cause shift in crop growing seasons. In fact, agriculture, which is our primary source of food, has contributed to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions through activities such as rice production, the use of synthetic fertilizers, livestock rearing, the change in land use patterns like deforestation. The sector is said to be the main contributor to (CH4) and (N2O) emissions (60 percent and 50 percent respectively), and also to a lesser extent to CO2. According to a report by FAO, agriculture causes approximately one-third of global GHGs, when direct energy use, emissions from livestock, the production of fertilizers, pesticides, machinery and equipment as well as soil degradation and land-use changes for feed production are taken into account.

Agriculture is part of the problem, but it is also considered to be part of the solution to mitigate climate change through agricultural practices that are climate resilient and environmentally friendly. Recently, numerous reports have emphasized the need to proceed to major changes in the global food system: agriculture must meet the twin challenge of feedinga growing population with rising demand for meat and high-calories diets, while simultaneously minimizing its global environmental impacts. The increasing population coupled with urbanization has serious implications for sustainable development in less favourable areas of developing countries. In addition, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impact of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. 

System of Rice Intensification for Increased Productivity and Ecological Security

The present technology of paddy production leaves behind ecological foot prints caused by overuse of fossil fuels and synthetic fertilizers that pollute almost a quarter to one third of world’s annual fresh water supply. Overuse of water contributes to emission of greenhouse gases causing more global warming. Besides, input costs are high and the additional inputs, particularly synthetic fertilizers to increase production are leading to diminishing or constant returns over the years. The method is ill suited for rain-fed areas. Despite this, India has relied on such input management practices attempting to improve yield for its food security. Such highly intensive agriculture dependent on fossil fuels, damaging to soil and fresh water, and crop diversity is becoming questionable today.

The real challenge therefore is to develop/adopt strategies based on sound ecological principles and integrate traditional organic farming practices and biodiversity with scientific knowledge. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a promising resource conserving method of growing rice both under irrigated and rain fed conditions as the method is based on alternate wetting and drying interval. Application of controlled irrigation reduces nitrogen export to the environment in comparison with flooding irrigation management and reverses climate change. Around 40 countries of the world today are reaping the benefits of SRI.

Rice is grown on 42.5 m ha in India, which is the largest area among rice growing counties and provides 29% of the calorie requirement in India with a production of 85.59 million tons and average yield of 2.2 t per ha. Area under rice is expected to be reduced to about 40 million ha in the country in the next 15 to 20 years due to water shortage and rapid industrialization and urbanization. The Problems confronted in rice production particularly by resource deficient small and marginal farmers and rain-fed areas are well known.

G. B. Pant Social Science Institute, University of Allahabad, Allahabad organized a two-day National Consultation session on the subject on 6th and 7th, April, 2015. The Consultation explored the alternatives ways of resource efficient SRI method for paddy cultivation in comparison to the existing resource intensive post Green Revolution conventional method. It focused on examination of the SRI method, considering particularly the contributions of soil organic matter, indigenous rice varieties, responses and roles of soil microbes, resourceuse efficiency, and labor use efficiency and productivity. It considered SRI and its relationships to biodiversity and ecological security, linking agricultural practices to the larger natural environment in which we live and produce. The Consultation also envisioned on a more desirable future, looking at SRI expansion across the country, at the roles and empowerment of farmers, and at the institutions, policies and knowledge-deepening that will make this all possible.

Agrotechnology for International Edification| Empowering the World Economy

The objective is to establish how advanced policy-making in designing innovative international agrotechnological education is critical in empowering national and world economies. With the world population mounting above 9 billion by 2050, ‘edification’ becomes a progressively more significant entity in human life. Major concerns are not limited to how efficiently conduct animal agriculture to safely and securely feed the rising populations. A foremost anxiety is how effectively to edificate human populations for the most efficient SciTech utilization out of natural resources.

 Edification is not restricted to original young learners and students. The governors, administrators and educators require constant and continual edification for ongoing overcoming of IAE challenges. It is only with the most applied edification of IAE philosophies to policy makers that SciTech can persist to optimize entrepreneurship and economy. The IAE resembles a circle that should often be revisited in all directions to be sustained fruitfully. Its dynamic structure will enable SciTech education to find multiple ways through goals. Often, science educators are not optimally directed towards continual edificational programs.

Systematic IAE does not end once one becomes an educator. The ongoing edification of educators does not aim to merely keep them up-to-date in science or to solely motivate networking for improved science dissemination. A major global goal is to revisit and refresh IAE principles and highlight the necessity of persistently developing a circular edification system. One will only be as much delicate in educating learners as being progressively and delicately educated by others. Governments are increasingly becoming responsible in fostering ‘educator edification’ initiatives to strengthen IAE. Maintaining science edification delicacies, thus, requires periodical and persistent edification of principal international science educators. A multi-angle visionary structure for dynamic IAE will help to mechanistically sustain an ever-improving nature for societal entrepreneurship and economy.

The structure would involve governors and administrators, principal science educators, and learners. The governors include ministers and administrative professionals. The learners are defined as those enrolled in different academic and non-academic institutions to obtain degrees, expertise and excellence in global fields of graduate science and technology. With inadequate resources and time and thought investment in these angles, especially the top government angle, tremendous practical shortcomings in linking IAE quality to economy and life quality will occur. Insightful science must be effectively disseminated through governments and interrelated sectors for most informative edification of such unified dynamic structures. This is key to determinedly overcome challenges faced through establishing IAE programs. The knowledge and insight into IAE ought to be incorporated into mandatory applied course materials in schools, universities and industries.

Cancer - Back to kitchen-curcumin and its Analogs

Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. Many factors act together or in sequence to cause cancer including life style and hereditary. WHO documents cancers as the leading causes of death worldwide, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012 which is estimated to rise by about 70% over the next 2 decade. Data indicates men are more vulnerable to lung, prostate, colorectum, stomach and liver cancers, while, in women breast, colorectum, lung, cervix, and stomach cancers were the predominant ones. More than 60% of world’s total new annual cases of cancer occurrence are in Africa, Asia and Central and South America accounting to 70% of the world’s cancer deaths. More than 30% of cancer deaths could be prevented by modifying lifestyle.

 By avoiding key risk factors, like tobacco, obesity, unhealthy diet and sedentary life, alcohol use, HBV and HPV-infections, the cancer can be prevented or delayed. About 20% global cancer deaths and 70% of lung cancer death are primarily caused by tobacco. Also, in many underdeveloped countries, upto 20% cancer deaths are due to infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human papillomavirus (HPV).

Due to scientific proof of concepts and enhanced acceptability of herbal products in disease prevention and cures dreadful diseases like cancer are being targeted through natural compounds/extracts. Commercially available curcuminoids which is a mixture of curcumin (77%), demethoxycurcumin (17%) and bis-demethoxycurcumin (3%) have shown broad large of biological activities. Among them, curcumin, a bis-α, β-unsaturated β-diketone, possess multitude of biological activities such as antitumor, anti-carcinogen, antiangiogenesis, chemoprevention and anti-rheumatoid activities among many more. National Cancer Institute (NCI) classified curcumin as ‘generally recognized as safe’ (GRAS) compound. Till date no toxicity has been reported in any animal and human studies even at extremely high doses. 

Worldwide, more than 65 clinical trials are underway for various therapeutic potential of curcumin for various diseases. The curcumin molecule is unique in its physiological effects in having a larger number of molecular targets than any other molecule. However, one of the major limitations of using curcumin as a drug is its poor plasmaand water solubility. To conquer this boundaries, large number of synthetic analogues have been tried to screen for a molecule with better pharmacokinetics.