Can curcumin food and Bacillus subtilis drug be taken simultaneously

Curcumin (CUR), a frequently-used food additive and flavorings, has been reported to be safe at a wide dose range. Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) is commonly found in soil and decomposing organic matter, and it was reported beneficial for humans when ingested. Up to now, there have been no contraindication of B. subtilis except for the avoidance of the drug combination with antibiotics, and the interaction of food and B. subtilis drug is blank. In this study, the interaction of CUR and B. subtilis was investigated. Microcalorimetry was applied to evaluate the effect of CUR on B. subtilis growth. By analyzing the main parameters extracted from the heat-flow power–time curves, it was concluded that CUR could inhibit the growth of B. subtilis, and the 50% inhibiting concentration (IC50) valued 109.9 μg mL−1. The results revealed that it is unreasonable to take CUR and B. subtilis at the same time, and it also provided a new way for the investigation of the interaction between food and drug. Meanwhile, this study indicated that the safety of CUR should be re-evaluated.