Curcumin and eugenol have been appreciated as broad-spectrum
antimicrobial agents since the early 20th century, and their parent plants of turmeric and
clove have been used in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines for thousands of
years. Although extensive research has identified several antimicrobial mechanisms of
action, it is the only eugenol that has become established for dental uses. Curcumin and
eugenol have been hard to purify and stabilize and, in their native states, show poor
bioavailability. New antimicrobial agents are now needed due to the growth in resistant
strains, and this means natural agents are back in vogue. Nanoparticle and
antimicrobial-coated surfaces are popular strategies to maximize the consistent delivery
of mainstream pharmaceuticals. Computational chemistry and docking analyses are the
primary methods used to identify and design novel variants of natural molecules to
improve bioavailability and stability. Both curcumin and eugenol have benefitted from
the expansion of these fields, and reports of stabilized forms with superior activity are
now rapidly appearing in the literature. This chapter will review the antimicrobial
spectrum of curcumin and eugenol, explaining their antimicrobial modes of action.
Finally, potential and currently available delivery systems will be explored using the
semi-synthetic analogs and bioengineered structures that have been created.
Keywords: Bioengineering, Curcumin, Eugenol, Nanoparticles, Natural molecules,
Semi-synthetic analogs.
