Development of Cress Seed Gum Hydrogel and Investigation of its Potential Application in the Delivery of Curcumin.

BACKGROUND Bioactive compound delivery systems must provide stability against severe food processing and environmental conditions. Cress Seed Gum (CSG) with high thermal stability can be a promising polysaccharide to prepare physically cross-linked hydrogel as a curcumin delivery system. In this study, CSG (0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 (gr.kg-1 )) and calcium chloride (CaCl2 ) (0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.10 (gr.kg-1 ) solutions were used for hydrogel fabrication. RESULTS Physicochemical properties of hydrogels were evaluated by entrapment efficiency (EE), loading capacity (LC), and swelling degree, DSC, SEM, in vitro release, and free radical scavenging capacity assessments. 0.15 (gr.kg-1) CSG-0.02 (gr.kg-1 ) CaCl2 hydrogel was revealed the high entrapment efficiency (93.6±1.59%), loading capacity (0.92± 0.00%), swelling degree (105.96 ± 12.99%), and heat stability above 103 o C. CSG hydrogel significantly (p<0.05) protected the antioxidant activity of curcumin against thermal process. The curcumin release in the acidic stomach medium was negligible, but it increased significantly in the simulated intestinal environment (42.5 ± 0.75%), which followed the Peppas model. CONCLUSION As a result, cress seed gum hydrogel can protect curcumin during food thermal processing and digestion time. Therefore, cress seed gum hydrogel can play a valued role in modern-day food formulations with increasing consumer preference for plant-derived materials. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.