PH sensitive double-layered emulsions stabilized by bacterial cellulose nanofibers/soy protein isolate/chitosan complex enhanced the bioaccessibility of curcumin: In vitro study

In this work, double-layered emulsions stabilized by bacterial cellulose nanofibers/soy protein isolate/chitosan complex were prepared using layer-by-layer self-assembly technology and used for the delivery of curcumin, and the physical and delivery properties of the prepared double-layered emulsions were investigated. The zeta-(ζ) potential of colloidal particles confirmed that the chitosan was adsorbed on surface of the single-layered emulsion droplets by attractive electrostatic interactions. Meanwhile, the physical properties showed that the double-layered emulsions displayed high pH-sensitivity and showed relatively higher stability under acid environment. Furthermore, the in vitro digestion result showed that the curcumin loaded by double-layered emulsions were more stable during simulated gastric digestion as compared with that loaded by single-layered emulsions. Especially, the bioaccessibility of curcumin delivered by the double-layered emulsions (77.4 ± 3.25%) was significantly higher than that of curcumin delivered by single-layered emulsions (32.8 ± 2.56%). Therefore, it can be concluded that the prepared double-layered emulsions showed a great potential application in the delivery of fat-soluble bioactive compounds.