Micronization for enhancement of curcumin dissolution via electrospraying technique

Curcumin is a hydrophobic polyphenol compound exhibiting a wide range of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-carcinogenic, anti-HIV, and anti-microbial activity. Recently, electrospraying has been successfully used to produce micro-or nano-sized particles for pharmaceutical use. In this work, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) microspheres containing curcumin were prepared via electrospraying in order to improve the bioavailability of poorly-water-soluble curcumin. The influence of five processing parameters namely curcumin/PVP ratio, tip to collector distance, and electric voltage on physic-chemical properties was investigated. The characterization and aqueous solubility of particles were determined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The result indicated that the spherical particles with particle size distribution of 164 to 730 nm obtained at a curcumin/PVP ratio of 1:30, a polymer solution concentration of 0.4%, electric voltage of 10 kV, and a tip-to-collector distance of 15 cm. Moreover, the dissolution of curcumin/PVP particle generated by electrospraying was higher than that of the original curcumin and pure curcumin particles produced by electrospraying.