Lovely Professional University's R&D division prepared Golden Milk formulation supplemented with nano-curcumin

Lovely Professional University, India’s leading university conducted a research on Milk and prepared Golden milk also known as turmeric milk. The research was led by Dr. Sachin Kumar Singh, Professor in School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University and RubiyaKhursheed, Assistant Professor in School of Pharmaceutical Science and Department of Pharmaceutical.

The research involved golden yellow free flowing milk powder as it has multifaceted health benefits. The innovative product has been prepared using simple technique of mixing and does not require any sophisticated instrument or highly skilled labor to formulate this, overall leading to a scalable and commercializable product.

Commending the work of the research, Dr. Sachin Kumar Singh, Professor, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University said, “Our objective was to create solidified golden milk, a milk formulation supplemented with nanocurcumin with a more pleasant taste and improved curcumin solubility, which will result in greater health benefits. We are extremely glad that our research derived the desired results. The newly developed product also helps improve memory and attention span in older people along with other benefits.”

The health benefits of milk are well known since a glass of milk is often considered as a whole meal, due to the fact that it contains nine essential nutrients. Milk is a good source of calcium, helps fight depression and other diseases. Turmeric added to milk is an Indian drink that has gained popularity in the world in the last decade or so.

It has been observed that in India many consume milk supplemented with curcumin so as to boost energy. Golden milk is a warm tonic which is meant to nourish and protect us from diseases such as cough, fever, inflammation and oxidative stress. The research shows that despite these benefits of golden milk, people, especially children, do not like it as when turmeric is added in milk, it forms lumps and floats on top of milk (due to very poor aqueous solubility of turmeric). This results in a bitter and unpleasant taste.

In the current research the main constituent of turmeric i.e Curcumin has been used which is responsible for the numerous health benefits of turmeric. For preparing golden milk, LPU has first made an attempt to increase the solubility of curcumin wherein the solubility was increased from 3% to 99%. The solubility of curcumin was increased by dissolving curcumin in a mixture of oils and surfactants. Afterwards this mixture was adsorbed on the surface of solidified milk powder to which sugar was added. Finally in order to enhance its taste, different flavors (vanilla, butterscotch, mango, pineapple, chocolate) were added in golden milk. In this way the team has prepared solidified golden milk with enhanced pleasant taste and improved solubility of curcumin which will result in better health benefits.

The novelty of the research lies in using curcumin which is the major constituent of turmeric responsible for the health benefits of turmeric. Although in the market turmeric milk is there, the researchers have used turmeric rather than curcumin. Secondly the curcumin which is used in our research is in nano form which increases the solubility of curcumin 33 folds. So, this increase in solubility further reduces the dose of curcumin. So instead of adding 1000 mg of curcumin in one sachet of golden milk, one can work with 30 mg of curcumin. This will further reduce the cost. Moreover, due to enhanced solubility of curcumin, its health benefits will also improve. In the previous researches carried so far, researchers have used raw turmeric which is not soluble in water and therefore it is poorly bioavailable.

The main outcome of the research is formulation of milk supplemented with nanocurcumin which will provide numerous health benefits. It will act as a natural cure and immunity booster for digestive, respiratory, and arthritic issues. A cup of golden milk can help fight heartburn, bloating and acid reflux. It even helps to fight against cancer cells and diabetes. It will help to improve sleep quality. Also, it can be taken during pregnancy as it will offer numerous benefits such as it will help relieve pain, fight infections, strengthen the immune system, lower cholesterol level and help improve sleep.

Several companies dealing in nutraceuticals/food industry such as A 1 Plus have approached for taking this technology at commercial level.