Eutectic Solvents Based on Matrine and Fatty Acids as Solubility and Stability Enhancers of Curcumin

Eutectic solvents (ESs) have shown great efficiency on increasing the solubility, stability, and bioactivity of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in recent research studies. Curcumin is an important API driven from natural plants, which displayed a series of biofunctions like antibacterials, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities etc. However, its poor water solubility and stability hindered its further clinic application. Herein, a series of novel ESs based on matrine and fatty acids (i.e., octanoic acid, decanoic acid, and lauric acid) were developed. The phase behavior and cytotoxicity of these ESs were investigated. Moreover, the prepared ESs displayed excellent ability on enhancing the solubility of curcumin with the highest solubility being 28 mg/mL at 298 K, which was nearly 50000-fold than that in water. The curcumin showed high stability in ESs, where only 10% of curcumin decomposed under light irradiation for 6 h. Furthermore, biofilms based on these ES solutions of curcumin have been prepared and displayed high antioxidant and antibacterial activities. To summarize, the prepared eutectic systems provide a new strategy for further application of curcumin.