Preparation, characterization and antioxidant properties of curcumin encapsulated chitosan/lignosulfonate micelles

In this work, chitosan/lignosulfonate composite micelles (CS-LS) were successfully prepared through polyelectrolyte self-assembly. Curcumin was encapsulated in CS-LS to obtain CUR-CS-LS. The results showed that the average diameter of CS-LS and CUR-CS-LS were 239 nm and 286 nm, respectively. The results show that the aromatic rings of lignosulfonate are assembled into the hydrophobic core of micelles through π–π interactions, and chitosan binds outside the hydrophobic core as a hydrophilic shell through electrostatic interactions. Curcumin is encapsulated in the hydrophobic core through hydrophobic interactions. Encapsulation improves the thermal stability and pH stability of curcumin. Compared with free curcumin, the retention efficiency of curcumin in CUR-CS-LS increased by approximately 6.66 and 6.46 times under the same heat treatment and pH conditions, respectively. Encapsulation also increases the antioxidant activity of curcumin in aqueous solution. In addition, the release mechanism of curcumin is diffusion and matrix swelling. These findings explain that CS-LS may be an effective promising delivery system for encapsulating hydrophobic biologically active substances.