Malaria remains a major global health concern. New, inexpensive, and effective antimalarial agents are urgently needed. Here we show that curcumin, a polyphenolic organic molecule derived from turmeric, inhibits chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum growth in culture in a dose dependent manner with an IC50 of similar to5 muM. Additionally, oral administration of curcumin to mice infected with malaria parasite (Plasmodium berghei) reduces blood parasitemia by 80-90%,) and enhances their survival significantly. Thus, curcumin may represent a novel treatment for malarial infection. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.