Question

[NAC (Nanoparticle Assembled Capsule)] The purple dye used to demonstrate encapsulation in this experiment is a mixture. The components of this colour are Carmoisine (Red) and Indigo Carmine (Blue). The yellow colour Curcumin could not be encapsulated when tried. Why?

Please be specific in terms of molecular structure and its chemical properties.

Answer 1

Encapsulation is a process to entrap active agents within a carrier material and it is a useful tool to improve delivery of bioactive molecules and living cells into foods.

Carmoisine is Di-sodium salt of 2-(4 sulpho -1-naphthylazo)-1-naphthol-4-sulphonic acid. Carmoisine is an azo dye. An azo dye is a chemical compound where two hydrocarbon groups are joined by two nitrogen atoms. azo dyes are cheap to produce and are more stable than most natural food dyes.Carmoisine is often used when the food is heat-treated.

Indigo carmine (5,5'-indigodisulfonic acid sodium salt) is commonly used as a pH indicator, often in a 0.2% aqueous solution. It is blue at pH 11.4 and yellow at 13.0. Indigo carmine is also a redox indicator, turning yellow upon reduction.

Curcumin is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Due to its high hydrophobicity,curcumin was encapsulated in polymeric micelles (Cur-M) with high drug loading and encapsulation effciency. Curcumin, known chemically as diferuloylmethane or 1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione, is a naturally occurring low molecular weight polyphenolic phyto constituent.