Study on curcumin fortification to improve the physicochemical properties and anti-oxidative potentialities of butteroil (ghee)

Abstract

The potentiality of curcumin supplementation (3 mg Kg-1 bw d-1) to address various health-related issues has expanded study areas. In the present study, the prepared butter oil was supplemented with curcumin at different levels ranging from 0.1 % to 0.4 %. The water activity of curcumin-supplemented butter oil ranged between 0.50 - 0.59. The amount of total free fatty acids decreased on curcumin supplementation. The curcumin solubility in fat ranged from 59.26 % to 98.13 %. The antioxidant activity (DPPH inhibition) of the 0.4 % curcumin supplementation was marked to be high i.e. 72.91 ± 2.43 % in comparison with the other samples. The prepared samples showed the Total Phenolic Content (TPC) ranging between 0.35–0.38 mg GAE g-1 and the highest was observed in the 0.4 % of curcumin supplemented sample respectively. The highest colour value (L* value – 44.82) was observed for the highly curcumin-supplemented sample (0.4 %). The melting point of the fat rose with a subsequent increase in the level of curcumin concentration in the samples. The standard plate count (SPC) was in the range of 11 – 40 CFU mL-1 while coliform count was absent in all the samples. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy confirmed the presence of functional groups of both butteroil and curcumin. The thermal analysis using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) observed several endothermic and exothermic peaks due to the complicated composition and structure of molecules.