Tofu as a Natural Food Delivery System for Curcumin

Developing an efficient curcumin delivery system based on natural food carriers is a hot topic in both fundamental research and industrial applications. This study successfully prepared curcumin-fortified tofu using tofu as a carrier and an emulsified curcumin encapsulation technology. A systematic investigation was conducted from the perspective of physicochemical and in vitro digestive performance and sensory quality. Results indicate that the soy protein–soybean oil emulsion exhibits a high curcumin encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity. Tofu supplemented with curcumin emulsion developed a unique, dense honeycomb structure with significantly enhanced rheological properties. Simulated digestion experiments demonstrated that curcumin-fortified tofu was digested slowly in the gastric stage, effectively delaying the release of curcumin. The extent of release increased significantly during the intestinal stage, showing the potential for intestinal-targeted delivery. Sensory evaluation confirmed that tofu with 0.10 mg/g of curcumin achieved optimal balance in color, texture, aroma, and taste, demonstrating excellent overall acceptability.