Study on curcumin encapsulated in whole nutritional food model milk: Effect of fat content, and partitioning situation

[Display omitted] •Curcumin was encapsulated in milk fat globules and protein micelles.•Curcumin stability was higher in whole milk than skim milk.•Encapsulation increased the in vitro bioaccessibility of curcumin.•Encapsulation increased the in vivo antioxidant activity of curcumin. Curcumin was encapsulated within dairy milk products (skim, low-fat and whole) using a pH-driven method. The curcumin was incorporated into all milk products at a high encapsulation efficiency (>85%) and was shown to be in an amorphous state. Ultracentrifugation analysis showed that the curcumin was mainly associated with the milk fat globules in the whole and low-fat milk but with the casein micelles or whey proteins in the skimmed milk. The chemical stability of curcumin during storage and heat treatment was higher for the whole milk. Encapsulation of curcumin within milk using the pH-driven method led to a higher in vitro bioaccessibility (after simulated gastrointestinal digestion) and in vivo antioxidant activity (after oral administration to rats) than simply mixing powdered curcumin with milk. This study may lead to the production of nutraceutical-enriched dairy products that could be used as functional foods to improve human health and wellbeing.