Nanocurcumin: Encapsulation Strategies, Characteristics and Applications

Nanocurcumin: Encapsulation Strategies, Characteristics and Applications provides a state-of-the-art overview on the nanoencapsulation techniques used for transforming poorly soluble curcumin (a most widely recognized bioactive with a wide range of bioactivities) into nanostrutured or nanoencapsulated curcumin ('nanocurcumin') with improved properties that are suitable for functional foods formulations. The development of functional foods has been widely recognized to be an effective strategy to improve health effects or reduce the risks of a number of chronic diseases. The key to fabricate functional foods is to ensure that they should contain an appropriate amount of bioactives with well-recognized bioactivities.

With an aim of informing people in academia or those who work on the encapsulation of poorly soluble bioactives (beyond curcumin) for food formulations and the development of functional foods and food nanotechnology, this book provides extensive and advanced knowledge on the field.

• Thoroughly covers the most recent trends and nanoencapsulation techniques of curcumin that have been achieved over the past decade
• Covers a variety of novel nanostructured delivery systems based on food important components (e.g., proteins and carbohydrates or their mixtures)
• Fills the gap between the interests of academia and the food industry by covering the issues of the development and applications of functional food formulations

Section 1: Curcumin and nanocurcumin: Chemistry, properties and applications
1. Introduction
2. Curcumin: Chemistry, properties and health effects
3. Nanocurcumin: Concepts, nanoencapsulation strageties and bioaccessibility/bioavailability
4. Digestion, adsorption and metabolism of nanocurcumin

Section 2: Polymeric nanostructured carriers for curcumin
5. Food protein nanocomplexes as nanocarriers for curcumin
6. Protein-based nanoparticles as carriers for curcumin (emulsification and evaporation)
7. Self-assembly of milk proteins for nanoencapsulation of curcumin
8. Self-assembly of plant proteins for nanoencapsulation of curcumin
9. Alcohol-soluble proteins as nanosized delivery systems for curcumin
10. Carbohydrate-based nanoparticles as nanocarriers for curcumin: Fabrication and properties
11. Protein-polysaccharide nanocomplexes or hybrid nanoparticles as nanocarriers for delivery of curcumin
12. Electrospun nanofibers or nanoparticles as carriers for curcumin

Section 3: Lipid-based nanostructured systems for delivery of curcumin
13. Food-grade nanoemulsions: Fabrication, challenges and applications as delivery systems of curcumin
14. Solid lipid nanoparticles as nanodelivery systems for curcumin
15. Food grade Pickering emulsions as delivery systems for curcumin

Section 4: Development and challenges of nanocurcumin for functional food and pharmaceutical industry
16. Spray-dried nanocurcumin as functional food ingredients
17. Targeted delivery and controlled release of nanocurcumin

Dr. Tang is a professor at the Department of Food Science and Technology of South China University of Technology. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science and Technology from Zhejiang University of Technology, China and obtained a Master in Food Engineering from Wuxi University of Light Industry, and a doctorate (Ph.D.) in Food Science from South China University of Technology. Professor Tang has conducted almost 20 years of research in the areas including food science, food colloids, functional foods and protein-based materials, especially those related to plant proteins. His recent research interests include structure and functionality of plant protein chemistry, development and novel applications of plant protein-stabilized emulsions, and nanoencapsulation of bioactives. In these areas, he has published more than 140 papers and edited two books. Currently he serves as an associate editor of several journals, including Food Research International (Elsevier) and Journal of Integrative Agriculture (Elsevier).