Curcumin is the main polyphenol of the curcuminoid class of turmeric, a well-known spice belonging to the ginger family. In addition to its common applications like coloring and antioxidant agent as food additives, it has a broad range of favorable biological functions, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic activities, and anti-cancer potentials against various cancers. However, curcumin suffers from some limitations including short shelf life due to its poor chemical stability, low bioavailability due to its poor absorption, low water solubility, rapid metabolism and rapid systemic elimination. Nanoencapsulaion has been addressed as an innovative and emerging technology for resolving these shortcomings. In this review, the different delivery systems used for loading of curcumin have been considered and explained including lipid-based, chemical polymer and biopolymer-based, nature-inspired, special equipment-based and surfactant-based techniques. Also, implications of nanoencapsulated curcumin in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic uses are discussed. In this sense, the relevant recent studies in the past few years along with upcoming challenges have been covered. Although incorporation of curcumin into nanocarriers can be a possible solution to overcome its inherent constraints, there are some rational concerns about their toxicological safety once they enter into the biological paths. Therefore, future investigations could focus on assessment of their biological fate during digestion and absorption within human body.

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Pollen grains of 11 Iranian apricot (Prunus armeniaca) cultivars were examined, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Pollen was collected in the 2002 growing season from mature apricot trees grown in The Apricot Collection Orchard, Ismailabad Horticultural Research Station, Qazvin, Iran. For SEM evaluation, pollen grains were observed and photographed at 1000× for whole grain and at 10 000× for sectioning of exine pattern (surface topography). The length (L) and the width (W) of grain, L/W ratio, distance between two furrows and the width of ridges in elliptical pollen, and the base, the altitude and the width of grain and ridges in triangular pollen were measured. Substantial variability in the size, shape, and exine patterns among pollen grains was clearly distinguished. The apricot cultivars were easily separated into two groups according to their pollen grain shapes: (1) obtuse-triangular (six cultivars). The pollen grains of all studied apricot cultivars were medium in size: 51.32 × 25.51 µm (length × width) for the elliptical shape, and for the triangular shapes: 39.03 × 31.22 µm (base × altitude). The resultant data from the two types of pollen shapes were analysed using completely randomised design (CRD) with unequal replications. Moreover, multivariate statistical analysis was carried out to distinguish morphometric information from measured parameters of the two pollen grain shapes. The projections of the loadings defined by the first two principal components allowed for the visualisation of the position of apricot cultivars, demonstrating between-cultivar-pollen shape variations. Hence, the differences in both exine pattern and surface topography, in particular ridges and pore characteristics, can potentially be used as a diagnostic tool to aid in the identification of apricot cultivars.