Curcumin loaded core-shell biopolymers colloid and its incorporation in Indian Basmati rice: An enhanced stability, anti-oxidant activity and sensory attributes of fortified rice.

Curcumin, a major bioactive in curcuminoids and food colorant, possess therapeutic properties, however, its low water solubility, instability during processing limit its industrial applications. The nanoencapsulated curcumin (NEC) in sodium caseinate (SC) and Maillard conjugate (MC) showed >90% water solubility. Encapsulation in MC reduced particle size (150 to 120 nm) zeta potential (-34 to -45 mV) and improved encapsulation efficiency (74 to 94%) compared to SC under optimized Tween20 and salt-ions. The in-vitro bioaccessibility of NEC was 300% more than curcumin (pH 7.4). The curcumin (0.092 mmol) and spray-dried NEC (0-0.092 mmol) were incorporated in Indian Basmati rice. The UV-VIS revealed 14, 10% higher stability of NEC (0.069 mmol) incorporated rice under dark and light at 27 ± 2 °C and 43, 39% more in thermally processed limited and excess water conditions, respectively, than curcumin. The high visual appeal and anti-oxidant activity (60%) of NEC Basmati rice demonstrated application in fortified product development.

Banana fiber Cellulose Nano Crystals grafted with butyl acrylate for heavy metal lead (II) removal.

The present work deals with extraction of Cellulose Nano Crystals (CNCs) from Banana fiber using the steam explosion method. Extracted CNCs was grafted with butyl acrylate (BA) monomer with ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) as an initiator. The prepared graft copolymer was analyzed using FTIR, XRD, SEM and EDAX. FTIR results indicate that the CH2 type of linkages was observed in the grafted copolymer showing effective formation of grafted copolymer. XRD results elucidate the changes in the crystalline behaviour of the prepared CNCs grafted butyl acrylate copolymer. SEM images of a prepared adsorbent was appeared to be heterogeneous and covered with clusters which will be suitable for adsorption. Batch adsorption studies was carried out for the removal of Pb(II) ions from the aqueous solution using the prepared copolymer. The parameters such as effect of pH, contact time, initial metal ion concentration and adsorbent dosage was investigated. From the observed results it was concluded that, the optimum pH: 5, contact time: 360 min, adsorbent dosage: 4 g/100 mL and initial metal ion concentration: 125 mg/L. The adsorption isotherm models of Pb(II) ions could be described very well by Freundlich model and the kinetic results revealed that pseudo-second-order kinetics showed a better fit.

Removal of toxic heavy metal lead (II) using chitosan oligosaccharide-graft-maleic anhydride/polyvinyl alcohol/silk fibroin composite.

The present work was aimed to investigate the efficiency of novel chitosan oligosaccharide-graft-maleic anhydride(COS-g-MAH)/Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/silk fibroin (SF) composite for removing the toxic heavy metal lead (II) ion from aqueous solution by batch adsorption studies. Initially the chitosan oligosaccharide-graft-maleic anhydride copolymer has been prepared by utilizing ceric ammonium nitrate as an initiator and the optimised graft copolymer was then used for synthesizing COS-g-MAH/PVA/SF composite. The prepared samples were analyzed through FTIR and XRD studies. The FTIR results indicate that the grafted chitosan oligosaccharide copolymer was mixed homogeneously with silk fibroin and polyvinyl alcohol through intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The XRD results elucidate the changes in the crystalline behaviour of the prepared COS-g-MAH/PVA/silk fibroin composite. Both FTIR and XRD results revealed a strong interaction among COS-g-MAH, PVA and silk fibroin components. To evaluate the adsorption potential of the synthesized composite, the parameters such as pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time and initial Pb(II)ion concentration was investigated. The adsorption isotherms of Pb(II) could be described very well by Langmuir model and the kinetic results revealed that pseudo second order kinetics shows a better fit. This work provides a practical and high-efficient method for water treatment at moderate concentration of toxic heavy metals.