in accordance with this invention the stable liquid pharmaceutical compositions with higher curcumin concentration comprises of curcumin or pharmaceutically acceptable salts or derivatives thereof , surfactant , solvent , oil and optionally antioxidant wherein the concentration of surfactant is not more than 60 % w / w . the compositions comprise 2 to 20 % w / w of curcumin , oil , solvent , surfactant and optionally antioxidant , wherein the ratio of oil to solvent , surfactant to solvent and surfactant to curcumin is in the range of 0 . 83 to 10 , 1 to 60 and 3 to 15 , respectively . the said composition is prepared without the use of ph buffer and / or molecular aggregation inhibitor ( s ). the oil is selected from : ( 1 ) fractionated coconut oil , caprylic / capric triglyceride or oil containing fatty acid triglycerides , preferably medium chain fatty acid triglycerides ( 2 ) isopropyl myristate , isopropyl palmitate , ethyl linoleate or oil containing ethyl oleate esters of fatty acids and monovalent alkanols ( 3 ) propyleneglycol dicaprylate , propyleneglycol dilaurate or oil containing propyleneglycol di - fatty acid esters . the surfactant is selected from polysorbate , vitamin e tpgs and cremophor , preferably cremophor . the solvent is selected from glycofurol , polyethylene glycol ( peg 200 , 400 ), glycerol , polypropylene glycol , propylene glycol , n - methyl - 2 - pyrolidone and ethyl alcohol or mixture thereof , preferably from propylene glycol and ethyl alcohol or mixture thereof . the anti - oxidant is selected from ascorbyl palmitate , butylhydroxyanisole , butylhydroxytoluene , propyl gallate , sodium ascorbate , tocopheryl derivative such as alpha - tocopherol and mixtures thereof . the present invention provides a process for the preparation of the said composition comprising ( i ) dispersing curcumin in solvent ; ( ii ) adding surfactant to the curcumin dispersion of step ( i ); ( iii ) dissolving curcumin by mixing and heating ; and ( iv ) adding oil to the solution of step ( iii ) to obtain the liquid pharmaceutical composition . in one embodiment a process for the preparation of the said composition comprising : ( i ) dispersing curcumin in surfactant ; ( ii ) adding solvent to the curcumin dispersion of step ( i ); and dissolving curcumin by mixing and heating ; and ( iii ) mixing oil to the solution of step ( ii ) to obtain the stable liquid pharmaceutical composition . in another embodiment a process for the preparation of the said composition comprising : ( i ) dispersing curcumin in oil ; ( ii ) adding solvent to the curcumin dispersion of step ( i ); and ( iii ) mixing surfactant to the dispersion of step ( ii ) and dissolving curcumin by mixing and heating to obtain the stable liquid pharmaceutical composition . in another embodiment a process for the preparation of the said composition comprising : ( i ) mixing solvent , surfactant and oil ; ( ii ) adding curcumin to blend of step ( i ) and dissolving curcumin by mixing and heating to obtain stable liquid pharmaceutical composition . the compositions according to the present invention can be administered by oral , topical or parenteral route ; preferably the compositions are administered by oral route . a pharmaceutical composition of curcumin was prepared as given in table 1 . the formulation after dilution with water ( 1 : 1000 ) or 0 . 1 n hcl ( 1 : 1000 ) resulted in clear and stable solution . particle size of resulting micro - emulsion was found below 100 nm after dilution of 24 hr . a pharmaceutical composition of curcumin was prepared as given in table 2 . pharmaceutical composition of example 1 was subjected to accelerated stability study as per ich guideline . the product was found to be stable for 6 months at 40 ° c ./ 75 % rh as shown in table 5 . the values of peak plasma concentration level ( c max ) and area under the curve ( auc ) obtained after administration of the pharmaceutical composition are shown in table 6 .
the present invention relates to stable liquid pharmaceutical compositions of curcumin or its pharmaceutically acceptable salts or its derivatives with higher curcumin concentration and improved bioavailability without the use of buffer and / or molecular aggregation inhibitor . in accordance with present invention the curcumin is in the solubilized form to make a stable liquid pharmaceutical composition .