Emulsion electrospraying and spray drying of whey protein nano and microparticles with curcumin
L. Mahalakshmi, Pintu Choudhary, J.A. Moses, C. Anandharamakrishnan
Food Hydrocolloids for Health
Abstract
This study describes the potential of nanoencapsulation of curcumin using the oil-in-water emulsion electrospraying technique. Whey protein was used as wall material, coconut oil was substituted as carrier material for curcumin and the emulsion was prepared at 1:200 and 1:500 core-to-wall (curcumin: whey protein) ratios through high-speed homogenization. Encapsulated micro and nanoparticles were produced by spray drying and electrospraying techniques, respectively, and the influence of both encapsulation processes and core-to-wall ratios on the physicochemical and functional stability of encapsulated curcumin was studied. At the 1:500 core-to-wall ratio, the resulting electrosprayed particles showed a smooth spherical shape with size in the nanoscale range (∼371 nm). Electrosprayed particles with a 1:500 core-to-wall ratio exhibited higher encapsulation efficiency with ∼88% retention of curcumin, around 1.08-fold higher than spray dried particles. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study explained the interactions of whey protein with coconut oil containing curcumin through hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. Interactions had a positive impact on the stability of encapsulated curcumin during simulated gastric and intestinal conditions. Solubility of the curcumin was enhanced in all encapsulated particles as observed through dissolution studies; in particular, electrosprayed particles showed higher dissolution behavior as compared to spray dried particles. Electrosprayed curcumin nanoparticles with a 1:500 core-to-wall ratio showed significant protection against degradation of curcumin under simulated gastric and intestinal conditions and had higher bioaccessibility (∼83%) than other formulations. Thus, the proposed study explains a promising strategy for the production of nanoencapsulated particles with enhanced stability of curcumin, and the results of this work can be extended to functional food applications.