Preparation and characterization of curcumin-loaded debranched starch/Mesona chinensis polysaccharide microcapsules: Loading levels and in vitro release

Curcumin has been shown a variety of biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer properties. However, its poor water solubility and chemical instability limit the scope of its application. In the present work, a novel debranched waxy maize starch (DWMS)/Mesona chinensis polysaccharide (MCP) complex wall material was developed to encapsulate curcumin, and the structural properties and in vitro release behaviors of microcapsules were evaluated. Rheological results showed that encapsulation of curcumin significantly reduced the dynamic modulus (G′ and G″) of the system. Particle size (from 1283.0 nm to 970.2 nm) and zeta potential (from −13.8 mV to −41.7 mV) of microcapsules decreased with the increase of MCP concentration in the wall material. DWMS, MCP, and Cur interacted through hydrogen bonding to form Cur-loaded microcapsules as FT-IR and XRD results demonstrated. Furthermore, the encapsulation efficiency of curcumin in DWMS-MCP microcapsules reached up to 63.2% when the MCP concentration was 2%. The antioxidant activity of the microcapsules was enhanced with the increase of MCP, which may be attributed to the increase of encapsulation efficiency and the intrinsic antioxidant activity of MCP. The in vitro release results proved that all microcapsules achieved sustained release in both intestinal and gastric fluids.