Fruit Peel Derived Carbon Dots for Improved Curcumin Delivery: A Promising Strategy for Enhanced Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activity

Abstract

Abstract Curcumin, known for its proapoptotic, chemo‐preventive, chemo‐therapeutic, antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, anticancer, and antimicrobial properties, suffers from poor bioavailability, limiting its applications. This study aims to enhance curcumin's bioavailability using carbon dots (CDs) synthesized from fruit peels as a novel nano formulation. CDs were synthesized via hydrothermal synthesis using banana and orange peels as carbon sources, and functionalized with curcumin to improve its solubility and cellular uptake. The synthesis and functionalization of CDs were confirmed using Fluorescence spectrophotometer, FT‐IR, and HR‐TEM. The curcumin‐loaded CDs exhibited superior antimicrobial activity, with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 22 μg/mL for Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ), 11 μg/mL for Bacillus subtilis ( B. subtilis ), and 22 μg/mL for Bacillus cereus ( B. cereus ). Additionally, the developed CDs demonstrated enhanced antioxidant activity compared to curcumin in DMSO. The findings indicate that curcumin‐loaded CDs significantly increase the biological activity of curcumin, offering a promising approach for its incorporation into functional foods, beverages, and pharmaceutical products. This study highlights the novel use of CDs to overcome the bioavailability issues of water‐insoluble bioactive compounds like curcumin, presenting a significant advancement in nano‐formulation technology.