Ultrasound-enhanced bioaccessibility and pharmacological activities of curcumin in inclusion complexes.

Curcumin was successfully complexed with 2'-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) using an innovative combination of solvent evaporation and ultrasound techniques. Complexes subjected to sonication for 5-15 min were compared to a control prepared without ultrasound. Sonication significantly improved yield, encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, and reduced particle size compared to the non-sonicated control. The 10-min sonication (HP-CD/Cur) achieved the highest encapsulation efficiency, curcumin loading, the smallest particle size, and curcumin autoxidation. Notably, sonication enhanced water solubility by over 360-fold compared to free curcumin. Furthermore, HP-CD/Cur demonstrated superior antioxidant activity, cytocompatibility, antibacterial efficacy against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and improved curcumin bioaccessibility. A remarkable accomplishment of this study is achieving high encapsulation efficiencies using a 1:1 (mol/mol) ratio of HP-β-CD to curcumin, contrasting with the larger cyclodextrin quantities typically required for effective encapsulation. Overall, HP-CD/Cur addresses the challenges of oral curcumin administration and demonstrates excellent potential as a delivery system for foods and pharmaceutical formulations.