Prospect of Gum Arabic-Cocoliposome Matrix to Encapsulate Curcumin for Oral Administration.

Curcumin is an antioxidant that can effectively eliminate free radicals. However, as its oral bioavailability is low, an effective delivery method is required. Phospholipid-based liposomes can encapsulate lipophilic drugs, such as curcumin, while liposome, cholesterol, and gum Arabic (GA) can enhance the internal and external stability of drug membranes. This present study used concentrations of cholesterol (Cchol) and GA (CGA), ranging from 0 to 10, 20, 30, and 40% as well as 0 to 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 40%, respectively, to encapsulate curcumin in a GA-cocoliposome (CCL/GA) matrix and test its efficacy in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) and simulated gastric fluid (SGF). The absence of new characteristic peaks in the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra results indicate the presence of non-covalent interactions in the CCL/GA encapsulation. Furthermore, increasing the Cchol decreased the encapsulation efficiency (EE), loading capacity (LC), and antioxidant activity (IR) of the CCL/GA encapsulation but increased its release rate (RR). Conversely, increasing CGA increased its EE and IR but decreased its LC and RR. The two conditions applied confirmed this. Liposomal curcumin had the highest IR in SIF (84.081%) and the highest RR in SGF (0.657 ppm/day). Furthermore, liposomes loaded with 10% Cchol and 20% CGA performed best in SIF, while those loaded with 10% Cchol and 30% CGA performed best in SGF. Lastly, the CCL/GA performed better in SIF than SGF.

In Vitro Evaluation of Curcumin Encapsulation in Gum Arabic Dispersions under Different Environments.

Biopolymers, especially polysaccharides (e.g., gum Arabic), are widely applied as drug carriers in drug delivery systems due to their advantages. Curcumin, with high antioxidant ability but limited solubility and bioavailability in the body, can be encapsulated in gum Arabic to improve its solubility and bioavailability. When curcumin is encapsulated in gum Arabic, it is essential to understand how it works in various conditions. As a result, in Simulated Intestinal Fluid and Simulated Gastric Fluid conditions, we investigated the potential of gum Arabic as the drug carrier of curcumin. This study was conducted by varying the gum Arabic concentrations, i.e., 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 40%, to encapsulate 0.1 mg/mL of curcumin. Under both conditions, the greater the gum Arabic concentration, the greater the encapsulation efficiency and antioxidant activity of curcumin, but the worse the gum Arabic loading capacity. To achieve excellent encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, and antioxidant activity, the data advises that 10% is the best feasible gum Arabic concentration. Regarding the antioxidant activity of curcumin, the findings imply that a high concentration of gum Arabic was effective, and the Simulated Intestinal Fluid brought an excellent surrounding compared to the Simulated Gastric Fluid solution. Moreover, the gum Arabic releases curcumin faster in the Simulated Gastric Fluid condition.