| Summary: | Curcumin has been demonstrated to have biological activities and its fortification in food products is an important strategy to deliver bioactive ingredients at target sites. However, studies have documented a curcumin low bioavailability and low intake. Hence, combining functional ingredients with food should be needed to prevent widespread nutrient intake shortfalls and associated deficiencies. Thus, curcumin was encapsulated in calcium-alginate and their characteristics as well as in vitro release behavior of curcumin hydrogel beads (CHBs) was studied. Moreover, CHBs were fortified in development of functional <i>Kulfi</i> and their quality characteristics were studied. The encapsulation efficiency was up to 95.04%, indicating that most of the curcumin was entrapped. FTIR shifts in the bands were due to the replacement of sodium ions to the calcium ions. In vitro release (%) for CHBs was found to be 67.15% after 2 h, which increased slightly up to 67.88% after 4 h. The average swelling index of CHBs was found to be 10.21 to 37.92 from 2 to 12 h in PBS (pH 7.40). Control and <i>Kulfi</i> fortified with CHBs showed no significant difference (<i>p</i> > 0.05) in colour (L = 73.03 and 75.88) and the melting rate (0.88 mL/min and 0.63 mL/min), respectively. Standard plate count was reduced in the <i>Kulfi</i> fortified with CHBs (13.77 × 10<sup>4</sup> CFU/mL) with high sensory score for overall acceptability (8.56) compared to the control (154.70 × 10<sup>4</sup> CFU/mL). These findings suggested the feasibility of developing CHBs to mask the bitterness, enhance the solubility, and increase the bioavailability in gastrointestinal conditions. Additionally, <i>Kulfi</i> could be a suitable dairy delivery system for curcumin bioactive compounds.
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