Synergistic Antioxidant Activity and Enhanced Stability of Curcumin Encapsulated in Vegetal Oil-Based Microemulsion and Gel Microemulsions
Cristina Scomoroscenco,
Mircea Teodorescu,
Sabina Georgiana Burlacu,
Ioana Cătălina Gîfu,
Catalin Ionut Mihaescu,
Cristian Petcu,
Adina Raducan,
Petruta Oancea,
Ludmila Otilia Cinteza
Affiliations
Cristina Scomoroscenco
Polymer Department, National Institute for Research and Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry-ICECHIM, 202 Spl. Independentei, 060021 Bucharest, Romania
Mircea Teodorescu
Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 010737 Bucharest, Romania
Sabina Georgiana Burlacu
Polymer Department, National Institute for Research and Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry-ICECHIM, 202 Spl. Independentei, 060021 Bucharest, Romania
Ioana Cătălina Gîfu
Polymer Department, National Institute for Research and Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry-ICECHIM, 202 Spl. Independentei, 060021 Bucharest, Romania
Catalin Ionut Mihaescu
Polymer Department, National Institute for Research and Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry-ICECHIM, 202 Spl. Independentei, 060021 Bucharest, Romania
Cristian Petcu
Polymer Department, National Institute for Research and Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry-ICECHIM, 202 Spl. Independentei, 060021 Bucharest, Romania
Adina Raducan
Physical Chemistry Department, University of Bucharest, 030018 Bucharest, Romania
Petruta Oancea
Physical Chemistry Department, University of Bucharest, 030018 Bucharest, Romania
Ludmila Otilia Cinteza
Physical Chemistry Department, University of Bucharest, 030018 Bucharest, Romania
Curcumin, due to its antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antitumoral activity, has attracted huge attention in applications in many fields such as pharmacy, medicine, nutrition, cosmetics, and biotechnology. The stability of curcumin-based products and preservation of antioxidant properties are still challenges in practical applications. Stability and antioxidant properties were studied for curcumin encapsulated in O/W microemulsion systems and three related gel microemulsions. Only biodegradable and biocompatible ingredients were used for carriers: grape seed oil as oily phase, Tween 80, and Plurol® Diisostearique CG as a surfactant mix, and ethanol as a co-solvent. For the gel microemulsions, water-soluble polymers, namely Carbopol® 980 NF, chitosan, and sodium hyaluronate were used. The influence of UVC irradiation and heat treatment on the degradation kinetics of curcumin in the formulations was studied. Because of the antioxidant character of the microemulsion oily phase, the possibility of a synergistic effect between grape seed oil and curcumin was explored. In this study, the high efficiency of the studied drug delivery systems to ensure protection from external degradative factors was confirmed. Also, the influence of the encapsulation in microemulsion and derived gel microemulsion systems on the antioxidant capacity curcumin was studied, and a synergistic effect with vegetal oil was demonstrated.
