Abstract: Folic acid-chitosan complex was applied to modify nanoliposomes containing curcumin. The average particle size and zeta potential of curcumin nanoliposomes were (67.4 ± 2.3) nm and (?13.81 ± 2.75) mV, and they were increased to (103.6 ± 4.1) nm and (16.35 ± 3.54) mV after being modified with folic acid-chitosan complex. The modified curcumin nanoliposomes showed better storage stability at 25 ℃ as compared to the native curcumin nanoliposomes and both of them possessed good sustained release property. Furthermore, curcumin was released faster from the modified nanoliposomes under weakly acidic conditions than under slightly alkaline conditions. Both the native and modified nanoliposomes without curcumin exhibited no cytotoxicity on Caco-2 cells, and the modified curcumin nanoliposomes possessed higher cytotoxicity than the native curcumin nanoliposomes, which was associated with higher cellular uptake percentage.

Key words: curcumin, folic acid, chitosan, liposomes