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Investigation of Curcumin Water Solubility Through Emulsifying with Biocompatible Polyethylene Glycol–Based Polymers

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Abstract

The low water solubility of curcumin prevents various biological and pharmacological activities, which prevent adequate bioavailability. Herein, two new emulsifier systems have been developed and optimized to increase the water solubility of curcumin. The first emulsion system containing curcumin was prepared using polyethylene glycol monooleate-460 (PEG-oleate) for the oily phase, Tween 20 as the emulsifier, and acetic acid as stabilizing agent. In this emulsion system, Box–Behnken experiment design was applied to find the most favorable conditions and substance ratios. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis was performed for the emulsion system obtained under optimum conditions. For this emulsion system, the curcumin solubility was found to be 709 times higher than the solubility of raw curcumin. The second emulsion systems developed was carried out using our newly synthesized methoxy polyethylene glycol monooleate-550 (methoxy PEG-oleate). The best curcumin solubility was obtained when the ratio of curcumin-methoxy PEG-oleate was 1:5 (w/w). The solubility of curcumin in this system was 56 times higher than that of raw curcumin. Interactions were characterized by FTIR measurements. Solubility, encapsulation capacity, dissolution, and stability studies were performed. The amount of curcumin in the emulsion systems was carried out by newly developed reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

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Funding

This work was funded by the Scientific Research Project Center of the Istanbul Technical University (grant number TGA-2017-40916).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Letters, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, 34469, Istanbul, Turkey

    Gulcemal Yildiz, Filiz Senkal & Gulcin Turan

  2. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Istanbul University, Beyazıt, 34116, Istanbul, Turkey

    Zeynep Aydoğmuş

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  1. Gulcemal Yildiz
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  2. Zeynep Aydoğmuş
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  3. Filiz Senkal
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  4. Gulcin Turan
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Correspondence to Gulcemal Yildiz.

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Gulcemal Yildiz declares that she has no conflict of interest. Zeynep Aydogmus declares that she has no conflict of interest. Filiz Senkal declares that she has no conflict of interest. Gulcin Turan declares that she has no conflict of interest.

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Yildiz, G., Aydoğmuş, Z., Senkal, F. et al. Investigation of Curcumin Water Solubility Through Emulsifying with Biocompatible Polyethylene Glycol–Based Polymers. Food Anal. Methods 12, 2129–2138 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-019-01555-y

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