Evaluation of antimicrobial photodynamic activity of CuminUP60®- A commercially-available high-soluble curcumin

Curcumin, a polyphenol extracted from Curcuma longa L. with a variety of biological and pharmacological activities, has been identified as a promising photosensitizer for food sterilization. However, its low aqueous solubility and bioavailability greatly restrict the practical application of curcumin. In the last decades, a number of approaches have been proposed to address this challenge, with several having already attained notable commercial viability. CuminUP60®, a patented curcumin complex consisting of curcumin extract and Poloxam407, has gathered attention in commercial realms for its enhanced solubility, bioavailability and therapeutic potential. However, the antimicrobial photodynamic activity of this novel curcumin complex has not been investigated. In the current study, we found that CuminUP60® showed a maximum absorption intensity at 434 nm with capability to produce Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) upon blue light excitation. Furthermore, CuminUP60® showed desirable bactericidal activity against a range of typical foodborne bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Shewanella putrefaciens, Pseudomonas fluorescens (MIC = 83.33 μM) and Escherichia coli (MIC = 166.66 μM) upon blue light (5.3 mW/cm2) illumination for 30 min. Taken together, the results demonstrated that CuminUP60® possess desirable antibacterial photodynamic activity, which could provide crucial support for the development of industrially applicable photodynamic sterilization systems within the food industry. •CuminUP60® is a commercial source of water-soluble curcumin.•CuminUP60® possesses comparable photodynamic ROS generation capability compared curcumin.•CuminUP60®-mediated photodynamic treatment inactivates a wide variety of foodborne pathogens.