Double-walled encapsulation of curcumin in starch and cellulose, its characterization and application as a sensing material to monitor food quality

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules 2024-11, Vol.280 (Pt 3), p.135951, Article 135951
• Main Authors: Ahmad, Mudasir, Saedi, Shahab, Muthukumarappan, Kasiviswanathan, Shah, Mohd Ashraf, Gani, Adil, Mushtaq, Mehvesh, Sher, Mazhar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cellulose; Coating; Encapsulation; Sensors; Starch
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.135951

The curcumin was encapsulated within a double-layered complex shell of nano-sized cellulose as the primary layer and the native starch (MDC) or the nano-sized starch (NDC) as the secondary layer to improve its stability, decreasing its release rate, while masking bitterness. The double-walled curcumin capsules were studied for encapsulation efficiency, colour behaviour at different pH and characterization using FTIR, DSC & FESEM. The encapsulation efficiency for NDC and MDC was 97.11 % & 90.46 %. The FTIR showed a shift of peaks to higher wavelength particularly at 1043 cm −1 and most of the curcumin peaks disappeared or had low intensity as enclosed within the layers of the capsules. Further, fish fillets were coated in starch paste containing 20 % double-walled curcumin capsules and the visible colour change was observed during a 7-day storage period at refrigerated conditions that could confirm the spoilage of fish to consumers without opening the package. •Curcumin was encapsulated in cellulose/starch shells to form a sensing material•This material was characterized by XRD, FESEM, DSC and ATR-FTIR•The release of curcumin and its colour change was tested at different pH levels•The sensing material was applied on the surface of fish fillets for quality monitoring•Fish fillets showed visible colour change confirming fish deterioration.