Curcumin as a photosensitizer: From molecular structure to recent advances in antimicrobial photodynamic therapy

• Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy is effective against pathogenic microorganisms. • Recent insights into the application of curcumin as photosensitizer was discussed. • Curcumin is highly active in decontamination processes and infections treatment. • This review will provide guidance for designing antimicrobial photodynamic protocol. • The article highlighted the challenges and further development. Nowadays multi-drug resistant microorganisms is a serious public health problem worldwide. To overcome it, new antimicrobial strategies have been developed. Among them, antimicrobial photodynamic therapy is an efficient tool against various micro-organisms in different medical and healthcare fields. The antimicrobial photodynamic protocol is based on the interaction of a photosensitizer, molecular oxygen, and an appropriate light source. Herein, we described the main physical and chemical proprieties of curcumin , an useful natural photosensitizer, including its degradation pathways, analytical methods for quantification, extraction method, synthetic methodologies, and pharmaceutical formulations used. Moreover, a comprehensive review of the past 10 years (2010−2019) concerning the application of curcumin as photosensitizer against microorganisms is described and discussed.