Curcumin loaded core-shell biopolymers colloid and its incorporation in Indian Basmati rice: An enhanced stability, anti-oxidant activity and sensory attributes of fortified rice.

Curcumin, a major bioactive in curcuminoids and food colorant, possess therapeutic properties, however, its low water solubility, instability during processing limit its industrial applications. The nanoencapsulated curcumin (NEC) in sodium caseinate (SC) and Maillard conjugate (MC) showed >90% water solubility. Encapsulation in MC reduced particle size (150 to 120 nm) zeta potential (-34 to -45 mV) and improved encapsulation efficiency (74 to 94%) compared to SC under optimized Tween20 and salt-ions. The in-vitro bioaccessibility of NEC was 300% more than curcumin (pH 7.4). The curcumin (0.092 mmol) and spray-dried NEC (0-0.092 mmol) were incorporated in Indian Basmati rice. The UV-VIS revealed 14, 10% higher stability of NEC (0.069 mmol) incorporated rice under dark and light at 27 ± 2 °C and 43, 39% more in thermally processed limited and excess water conditions, respectively, than curcumin. The high visual appeal and anti-oxidant activity (60%) of NEC Basmati rice demonstrated application in fortified product development.