Background: A simple, rapid and efficient method for the determination of curcumin and other polyphenols in turmeric and curry samples was here developed. The method relied on sample extraction with methanol and extract analysis by liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Methods: The separation of components was carried out in reversed-phase mode using an elution gradient based on 0.1% (v/v) formic acid aqueous solution and acetonitrile as the components of the mobile phase. Chromatograms were recorded at 420 nm for specific monitoring of curcumin and related compounds. Results: Extraction and separation conditions were optimized by experimental design and multicriteria response functions. Figures of merit were established under the selected experimental conditions. In general, repeatability of peak areas were better than 0.4%, detection limits were below 0.006 mg L-1 and quantitative recoveries expressed as a percentage were about 100 ± 2. The method was applied to quantify curcuminoids in commercial samples. It was found that apart from curcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin, other related molecules also occurred in the samples. In this regard, a tentative elucidation of possible unknown curcuminoids was attempted by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Conclusion: Differences in the compositional profiles among samples were encountered to be relevant, so that the resulting HPLC-DAD data was exploited for chemometric characterization of turmeric and curry samples. Samples were successfully discriminated according to matrix types, species varieties and origins.