Redispersible dry powders containing nanoencapsulated curcumin increase its antioxidant activity

The present study aimed to develop redispersible spray-dried powders containing curcumin-loaded Eudragit® L100 nanocapsules and evaluate their physicochemical properties and antioxidant potential. The spray drying process showed a yield of over 85%, low residual moisture content (<2%), and all the physicochemical characteristics of the nanocapsules were recovered after the aqueous redispersion of the dry powders. In addition to the dry powders, the following samples were also analyzed: pure curcumin, pure lactose, and curcumin-lactose mix. In TGA and DSC analysis, all samples were thermostable and exhibited no chemical interactions with each other. In FTIR analysis, the nanostructured powder system showed functional groups of the precursors (curcumin and lactose), confirming the effectiveness in the preparation of the nanostructured material. In the evaluation of the free radical scavenging activity of DPPH•, the dry powder containing nanoencapsulated curcumin showed antioxidant activity approximately six times higher than free curcumin. Therefore, spray drying of nanoencapsulated curcumin made it possible to obtain a dry powder with homogeneous aqueous redispersion, as well as promoting the potentiation of the antioxidant activity of curcumin.

Highlights

• Spray-dried powders containing nanoencapsulated curcumin were prepared;
• The nanocapsules were recovered after aqueous reconstitution of the dry powder;
• The compatibility of the precursors was confirmed through thermal and spectrophotometric analysis;
• The dry powder showed 6x higher antioxidant activity than free curcumin.

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Materials

Curcumin (purity ≥98%) and sorbitan monostearate (Span 60®) were purchased from Sigma Aldrich (São Paulo, Brazil), and Eudragit® L100 polymer was kindly donated by Evonik (São Paulo, Brazil). Polysorbate 80 (Tween 80®) was obtained from Synth (São Paulo, Brazil). Medium chain triglycerides and monohydrated lactose were purchased from Delaware (Porto Alegre, Brazil).

Samanta da Silva Gündel, Bruna Zorzanello, Fernanda Reis Favarin, Éricles Forrati Machado, Aleksandro Schafer da Silva, William Leonardo da Silva, Fernando Dal Pont Morisso, Aline Ferreira Ourique, Redispersible dry powders containing nanoencapsulated curcumin increase its antioxidant activity, Journal of Food Engineering, 2024, 112288, ISSN 0260-8774, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2024.112288.

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