Curcumin is a powerful bioactive agent and natural antioxidant, but it is practically water-insoluble and has low bioavailability; a possible solution to this obstacle would be formulations of curcumin nanoparticles. Surfactants such as tween 80 can be used to stabilize low-solubility molecules preventing particle aggregation. The objectives of this study were the preparation of a suspension with curcumin nanoparticles in tween 80, the testing of pure curcumin solubility and of a simple mixture of curcumin with tween 80 and nanosuspension in water and ethanol as solvents, and finally the assessment of the antioxidant activity. We prepared the nanosuspension by injecting a curcumin solution in dichloromethane at low flow in water with tween 80 under heating and ultrasound. The analysis of particles size was conducted through dynamic light scattering; the non-degradation of curcumin was verified through thin-layer chromatography. The analyses of antioxidant activity were carried out according to the DPPH method. The method applied to reduce the particles size was efficient. Both the curcumin suspension and nanosuspension in tween 80 increased its solubility. Curcumin and the formulations presented antioxidant activity.

The aim of this work was to study the enrichment of Spirulina platensis in wheat flour to prepare fresh pasta to evaluate the green color and nutritional enrichment in addition to functional properties due to the presence of the bioactive compounds in the cyanobacterium. The pastas were evaluated for the centesimal composition, microbiological contamination, sensorial acceptance and technological characteristics such as cooking time, water absorption, volume displacement and loss of solids. The superior protein contents and the satisfactory technological and sensorial attributes compared with the control with no cyanobacterium showed the usefulness of incorporating S. platensis biomass in the fresh pastas. The microbiological quality was in compliance with the legislation in force. The sensorial quality was considered satisfactory ("liked very much") and purchase intention high ("probably would buy").Fundacao AraucariaFundacao Araucari

The cyanobacteria Spirulina platensis has been cultivated in a fed batch process with urea as the nitrogen source, in order to obtain dehydrated biomass for incorporation into food, aiming at nutritional enrichment and the production of a functional character, due to the amount of proteins, vitamins and several bioactive compounds found in this cyanobacterium. In this study, response surface methodology was used to analyze the substitution of wheat flour by cassava in the development of doughnuts with added Spirulina platensis biomass and inverted sugar, in order to increase the rate of the Maillard's reaction and mask the green colour of the biomass. The formulations were evaluated in relation to their proximate, sensory and technological compositions, which, when compared to the standard formulation, without the addition of S. platensis biomass and inverted sugar, showed the feasibility of adding the biomass to bestow nutritional enrichment without significantly affecting the sensory acceptance of the product or its typical characteristics.