Metal imbalance in the human body especially iron causes neurodegenerative disorder included Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease and leads to compromised antioxidant function. The metal chelator drug molecules have the ability to reduce neurodegenerative disorders. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to measure the effectiveness of curcumin ligand for the detection of metal ions i.e. Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Gd³⁺ in oil in water nanoemulsion (NEm). The binding of curcumin with different metal ions at 298.15, 303.15, and 308.15 K has been analyzed using fluorescence and UV–visible absorption spectroscopy. The photoluminescence emission spectrum of curcumin shows unique behavior with different metal ions. The metal ions such as Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺ and Cu²⁺ quenches the fluorescence intensity of curcumin whereas the metals like Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Hg²⁺ and Gd³⁺ enhances the fluorescence intensity of curcumin. Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺ and Cu²⁺ display strong binding nature compared to other metal ions and bind with curcumin in the stoichiometry ratio, 1:2 (Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺/curcumin) and 1:1 (Cu²⁺/curcumin), respectively. Stern–Volmer plots used for the quenching mechanism depict, Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ quench the photoluminescence intensity of curcumin by combining static and dynamic mechanisms, whereas with Cu²⁺ it was found to show dynamic quenching only. All other metal ions (Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, and Gd³⁺) indicated weak coordination with curcumin molecules.