ORIGINAL RESEARCH Nanoliposomes coencapsulating curcumin and vitamin D 3 produced by hydration of proliposomes: Effects of the phospholipid composition in the physicochemical characteristics of vesicles and after incorporation in yoghurts MATHEUS A. CHAVES, 1 VINICIUS FRANCKIN, 1 RITA SINIGAGLIA-COIMBRA 2 and SAMANTHA C. PINHO * 1 1 Department of Food Engineering, Laboratory of Encapsulation and Functional Foods (LEnAlis), School of Animal Science and Food Engineering, University of S ˜ ao Paulo, Av. Duque de Caxias Norte 225, Pirassununga, SP 13635-000, and 2 Electron Microscopy Center, Federal University of S ˜ ao Paulo, Rua Botucatu 862, S ˜ ao Paulo, SP 04023-062, Brazil Nanoliposomes coencapsulating curcumin and vitamin D 3 (VD3) using different compositions of purified and unpurified lecithins were produced by hydration of proliposomes and characterised over 15 days of storage. The dispersions were incorporated to pineapple yoghurts produced in lab- oratory-scale, which were also characterised. Results showed that curcumin and vitamin D 3 were retained in the nanovesicles up to 86.1% and 94.1%, respectively. Most of the parameters assessed for the yoghurt samples were within the limits required by the Brazilian legislation and the Codex Alimentarius. Finally, the enriched product was well accepted by the panellists with the purchase intention ranging from 53 to 75%. Keywords Dairy technology, Rheology, Fortification, Microencapsulation, Nutraceutical foods, Physicochemical properties. INTRODUCTION Currently, the search for new functional food products has been steadily growing as people are increasingly concerned about their eating habits and pursuing healthier lifestyles. Yoghurt is one of the most biologically active foods con- sumed by humans as probiotic carriers, and its ingestion is currently linked to health benefits, including a reduction in cholesterol levels, the stimulation of the immune system and the sup- ply of proteins, lipids and micronutrients (Campo et al. 2019; Abdesslem et al. 2020; Hadjimbei et al. 2020; Khaledabad et al. 2020). On the other hand, even though yoghurts are not considered rich sources of bioactive com- pounds, their enrichment can be simple and effective due to their structural characteristics. In this context, nanoencapsulation has been widely reported as a successful method to improve the application and bioavailability of bioactives in water-formulated foods by preserving and pro- tecting against harmful conditions during pro- cessing (Rostamabadi et al. 2019). Nanoliposomes are the nanometric version of liposomes and consist in spherical vesicles con- taining one or more phospholipid bilayer mem- branes surrounding an aqueous core formed after an input of energy (Khorasani et al. 2018). Among the lipid components used in nanolipo- some production, phosphatidylcholine, phos- phatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol are the most known and all can be found in lecithins extracted from both soy- bean or egg yolk. In this sense, unpurified soy lecithins can cost at least 20% less than hydro- genated phospholipids (Chaves and Pinho 2019). Curcumin is a low-molecular-weight natural polyphenolic compound found in the rhizome of the Curcuma longa L. Due to its intense yellow *Author for correspondence. E-mail: samantha@usp.br © 2020 Society of Dairy Technology Vol 0 International Journal of Dairy Technology 1 doi: 10.1111/1471-0307.12729