Chitosan-Copolymer Loaded Acalypha indica Extract for Drug Delivery

Abstract

Polymer encapsulation is commonly adopted in drug delivery systems to form encapsulation that can assist in delivering active compound to the targeted area. Acalypha indica (AI) crude extract was obtained from AI plants through ultrasound assisted extraction, is naturally unstable in external environment, thus need to be encapsulated to protect against volatility. Chitosan has promising properties good for drug carriers. Physically blending of chitosan with PCL via physical during encapsulation process can benefit to immobilize the AI extracts against any interactions with the external environment through encapsulation. Herein, this study emphasized the development of the encapsulations of AI extracts using chitosan-polycaprolactone (PCL) blend by emulsion-solvent evaporation and then freeze-dried methods. In the beginning, the sonication time was studied to find the best time. Later, 5 minutes time was chosen and being used throughout the study. Three (3) parameters ( ratio of chitosan: PCL concentration, PVA concentration , and Concentration of chitosan-PCL blend) for Al encapsulation were studied by fixing a parameter at a time (OFAT). The percentage of encapsulation efficiency (EE%) was recorded as a response for each parameter. To study the interactions between the factors, the study proceeded with central composite design (CCD) as the optimization tools of response surface methodology (RSM). Central points were taken from the preliminary data obtained in one-parameter experiments. The validation was carried out with two data of highest and lowest EE% suggested by CCD. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size analyzer, and zeta potential were used to analyze the properties of selected microencapsulated samples. The highest EE% recorded was 98.70% and the lowest EE% was 87.80%. The results showed the difference of predicted and experimental values at percentage lower than 7.5%. The SEM images revealed the formation of smooth sphrerical shapes. The zeta potential for the highest and lowst EE% recorded were not so significant difference (-24.0 and -26 mV). Whereas the particle size obtained were 2.631 ± 0.14 and 3.568 ± 1.35 respectively. Overall, the encapsulation of (AI) extracts was successful and has the potential to be applied in drug delivery.