Investigation of antioxidant activity and release kinetics of curcumin from tara gum/ polyvinyl alcohol active film

Abstract A curcumin incorporated film was developed from tara gum and polyvinyl alcohol. The mechanical properties, water-vapor permeability, total phenolic content and antioxidant properties of the resultant films were analyzed. The release of curcumin from films in 50% ethanol simulants was also studied. The average film thickness ranged from 0.078 mm to 0.091 mm after curcumin addition and the elongation at break of the film increased from 6.07% to 29.88% with a 1% content of curcumin. Although the water-vapor permeability decreased slightly, the antioxidant properties of the film were enhanced. The DPPH scavenging capacity was increased from 1.81% to 35.16% as the curcumin content increased to 5%. The release studies indicated that the release rate and curcumin diffusion coefficient increased with increasing curcumin content, and a higher temperature accelerated curcumin migration. The benefits of curcumin-incorporated films may yield new designs for the protection of fatty foods.