ORIGINAL ARTICLE Antimicrobial efficacy of curcumin nanoparticles against Listeria monocytogenes is mediated by surface charge Da Som No 1 | Ammar Algburi 1,2 | Phong Huynh 1 | Aubry Moret 3 | Marion Ringard 3 | Nicole Comito 1 | Djamel Drider 3 | Paul Takhistov 1 | Michael L. Chikindas 1,4 1 School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 2 Department of Microbiology, Veterinary College, Diyala University, Baqubah, Iraq 3 Institut R egional de Recherche Charles Viollette, Universit e Lille 1, Cit eScientifique, Cedex, France 4 Center for Digestive Health, New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, New Brunswick, New Jersey Correspondence Michael L. Chikindas, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers State University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. Email: tchikindas@aesop.rutgers.edu Paul Takhistov, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Email: takhistov@aesop.rutgers.edu Funding information USDA-NIFA, Grant Number: NC1194 and NSF ERC-CSOP. Abstract Curcumin, a hydrophobic phenolic compound isolated from tumeric (Curcuma longa), has gained a great attention due to its health benefits and antimicrobial effects. In this study, curcumin nano- particles (CNPs) were formulated via acusto-plastic deformation technique, with three differently surface-charged surfactants-sodium dodecylsulfate, Tween 20 and cetrimonium bromide (CTAB). The fabricated CNPs were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against Listeria monocytogenes, one of the most severe foodborne pathogens. Our results demonstrated that the CNPs formulated with positively charged surfactant (CTAB) exhibited the highest antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes, indicating that there is a strong relationship between surface charge and antimi- crobial activity of curcumin. The enhanced antimicrobial action of CNPs-CTAB was concluded to be due to the increased cell-antimicrobial interaction, which resulted from the opposing electrical charges between CNPs-CTAB and L. monocytogenes cells, as well as increased antimicrobial pene- tration endowed by the small size. Practical applications In this study, we showed that surface charge as well as the small size of curcumin nanoparticles play a key role in enhancing cell-antimicrobial interaction and antimicrobial efficacy. The fabricated CNP- CTAB showed the best antimicrobial activity against Listeria monocytogenes. A size reduction to nano-scale is a recently developed strategy used to improve drug/food delivery and matching the public demand for effective and safe antimicrobial formulations for control of foodborne pathogens. 1 | INTRODUCTION Listeria monocytogenes, the causative agent of listeriosis, is a foodborne pathogen with high mortality rate (Painter & Slutsker, 2007). It is partic- ularly dangerous for pregnant women (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 1999), the elderly, and individuals with compro- mised immune systems (Painter & Slutsker, 2007). According to the data from 2000 to 2008, about 1,600 illnessnes and 260 deaths are reported annually in the United States due to listeriosis (Scallan et al., 2011). There has been a growing public demand for effective and safe antimicrobial formulations suitable for control of foodborne pathogens. Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is a hydrophobic phenolic compound isolated from turmeric (Curcuma longa), a plant native to tropical South Asia (Ruby, Kuttan, Babu, Rajasekharan, & Kuttan, 1995). Pharmacologi- cal activities of curcumin have recently gained a great deal of interest in the microbial field, with properties including anti-inflammatory (Jurenka, 2009), anti-cancer (Aggarwal, Kumar, & Bharti, 2003; Sharma, Gescher, & Steward, 2005), and anti-oxidant (Ak & G€ ulçin, 2008; Barclay et al., 2000). Curcumin has also been studied for wound healing applications (Sidhu et al., 1998). Research has demonstrated that curcumin has a broad spectrum of antimicrobial effects against bacteria, viruses, fungi, and biofilm-associated microorganisms (Lawhavinit, Kongkathip, & Kongkathip, 2010; Negi, Jayaprakasha, Rao, & Sakariah, 1999; Rudrappa & Bais, 2008). Furthermore, curcumin has been reported to have syner- gistic antimicrobial action with antibiotics against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (Moghaddam, Iranshashi, Yazdi, & Shahverdi, Da Som No and Ammar Algburi are with equally contributed authors. Paul Takhistov and Michael L. Chikindas are equally contributed senior authors. J Food Saf 2017; e12353; DOI: 10.1111/jfs.12353 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfs V C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 1 of 5 Received: 11 August 2016 | Revised: 12 December 2016 | Accepted: 26 December 2016 DOI 10.1111/jfs.12353