Rezende, StephanyFerreira, OlgaSantamaria-Echart, ArantzazuDias, Madalena M.Barreiro, M.F.2024-06-272024-06-272024Rezende, Stephany; Ferreira, Olga; Santamaria-Echart, Arantzazu; Dias, Madalena Maria; Barreiro, M.F. (2024). Evaluating the potential of natural polymers for water-dispersible curcumin-based solid dispersion colourant systems for food applications. Journal of Food Engineering. ISSN 0260-8774. 371. p. 1-110260-8774http://hdl.handle.net/10198/29951Solid dispersion (SD) technology, a strategy through which a hydrophobic compound is molecularly dispersed into a hydrophilic carrier, is raising interest in food applications to surpass natural colourants’ low water solubility. Motivated by the importance of using natural solutions, five natural polymers (k-carrageenan (KC), maltodextrin (MD), Arabic gum (AG), potato starch (PS), and pectin (PC) were evaluated against the synthetic benchmark polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)). Targeting a stable yellow hue, pH 6 was used, and the effect of salt addition on crystallinity was evaluated. Comparatively with PVP, used as a synthetic polymer reference, SDs based on MD, AG, and PC presented a deeper orange shade. Similar size distributions were achieved for the produced samples except for PS-based SDs, which showed higher sizes in volume. For all systems, polymer-curcumin hydrogen bonding was perceptible and reflected in the curcumin crystallinity modification/reduction, particularly if produced under natural pH conditions. The water solubility was significantly improved compared to free curcumin, from 1 μg/mL to 25–37 μg/mL (pH 6, PVP - 24.54 μg/mL) and 18–86 μg/mL (without pH control, PVP - 28.34 μg/mL), highlighting the favourable effect of natural polymers.engCurcuminNatural food colourantsNatural polymersSolid dispersionsWater solubilityjournal article10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2024.111986