Improving the physicochemical stability and release properties of curcumin using κ-carrageenan/scallop hydrolysates hydrogel beads

Scallop ( Patinopecten yessoensis ) male gonad hydrolysates (SMGHs)/ κ -carrageenan (KC)/KCl beads with SMGHs :KC ratios (0:10–5:5) were investigated. SMGHs/KC/KCl-Cur bead (5:5) exhibited the most intact spherical morphology and highest Cur loading content of 0.063 mg/0.1 g bead, ascribing to a shortened T 23 from 1607.9 to 966.4  ms, and red and blueshifts of O H, NH, amide I and II bands. The undetected fingerprint region within 7.82°-28.90° of SMGHs/KC/KCl-Cur beads indicated successful Cur entrapment. Moreover, SMGHs/KC/KCl-Cur beads exhibited shrinkage network backbones and larger void pores as SMGHs increased, with vessel percentage area, total number of junctions, total vessel length decreasing from 52.1, 1446.8, 57931.4 to 39.7, 530.5, 34458.4, and lacunarity increasing from 0.048 to 0.111, respectively. Furthermore, Cur showed approximately 50% release contents in colon phase and above 90% retention rate during 30 days of storage at 4 °C. These results suggested that SMGHs/KC/KCl-Cur beads exhibited sustained-release of Cur and promised stable Cur preservation.