PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CURCUMIN (O/W) NANOEMULSIONS USING CANOLA OIL AND TWEEN 80/SPAN 20

Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound derived from turmeric (Curcuma longa) has been reported to have some therapeutic properties such as anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and hepatoprotective activity. However, it has poor water solubility resulting in the low bioavailability for oral administration route. In this work, we reported the preparation of curcumin oil-in-water (o/w) nanoemulsions with improved solubility and stability of curcumin using food grade canola oil and tween 80/span 20 as the oil phase and emulsifiers, respectively. It is found that oil droplet particle size was 51.03 ± 0.03 nm. This formulation could enhance the solubility of curcumin up to 8.663 ± 1.211 mg/ml. Moreover, it is also demonstrated that this formulation has an impressive stability up to 200 times dilution. These results suggested that this formulation is promising to be used in oral administration.