Myofibrillar protein-curcumin nanocomplexes prepared at different ionic strengths to improve oxidative stability of marinated chicken meat products

A low-cost, convenient and organic solvent-free approach was investigated to nanoencapsulate curcumin (CCM) in myofibrillar proteins (MPs) as a potential strategy to improve the oxidative stability of marinated meat products. The encapsulation was enabled by shifting CCM-MP mixture to pH 12 and then pH 7 at different ionic strengths. Stable CCM-MP nanocomplexes were formed at 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 mol/L NaCl, resulting from the exposure of hydrophobic residues of MPs at alkaline pH to bind with dissolved CCM, which enabled an encapsulation efficiency of about 80% and particle diameters of about 300 nm. DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging tests showed good antioxidant activity of CCM-MP nanocomplexes that enabled the reduction of TBARS and carbonyls values of both raw and cooked chicken meat during refrigerated storage for 12 days. Overall, the stable CCM-MP nanocomplexes show the potential applications to manufacture functional meat products with improved quality.