Preparation optimization and characterization of chitosan-tripolyphosphate microcapsules for the encapsulation of herbal galactagogue extract
Introduction
Many herbs and spices have been recommended as useful galactagogues and the most frequently used herbs include milk thistle, fenugreek, fennel, cumin, caraway, anise and nettle [1,2]. These herbs contain active substances such as polyphenols, flavonoids, isoflavones and terpenes that induce bitter and astringent taste in the derived extract which makes these products unpleasant for breastfeeding women and decreases the therapeutic efficacy [3]. Since sensory characteristics of food products has an important role in acceptability by consumers, suitable approaches can be utilized in order to mask the undesirable taste such as application of flavoring agents, ion exchange resins, solid dispersion system, mass extrusion method and microencapsulation [4,5]. Microencapsulation is a process in which active substances are surrounded by coating materials that protects the core from environmental conditions (pH, light, oxygen and temperature) as well as providing controlled release, masking the unpleasant taste and odor and increasing the stability of susceptible compounds Microencapsulation can be carried out through different wall materials and various methods [6,7].
Chitosan is a polymer consisting of glucosamine and N-acetyl-glucosamine in different proportions which determines its deacetylation degree. It has cationic property by protonation of amino group at acidic conditions and exerts non-toxic, biocompatible, biodegradable and antimicrobial properties [8,9]. Chitosan can be used as a wall material to entrap core substances, as this cationic polymer can be cross-linked with negatively charged substances such as natural polymers (alginate, pectin, xanthan, carrageenan, cellulose, etc.), synthetic polymers, metal ions and tripolyphosphate (TPP) [10,11]. These chitosan-based polyelectrolyte complexes can be utilized in biomedical and pharmaceutical areas such as active substances delivery with delayed digestibility and controlled release [10]. Ionic gelation of chitosan with TPP has been considered extensively because of being non-toxic, organic solvent free, convenient and controllable and has shown capacity to encapsulate proteins, genes, drugs vitamins and different phenolic compounds [12]. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted to encapsulate herbal galactagogue extract in CS-TPP microcapsules, thus this study focused on development and characterization of microcapsules containing mixture of herbal galactagogue extract using ionic gelation which can be used in formulation of food products with galactapoetic property. The selected herbs include fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), cumin (Cuminum cyminum), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum) and dill (Anethum graveolens) which are the most effective and commonly used herbs for stimulation of milk production according to the literature. It has been reported that anethole present in fennel competes with dopamine and districts its inhibitory effect on prolactin secretion. Mimicking oxytocin activity and phytoestrogenic activity of dill and fenugreek increase milk production. These herbs are also used in commercial formulations designed for breastfeeding women [13,14]. Moreover, RSM in combination with Box-Behnken was applied to explore the effects of three independent variables (chitosan, extract and sodium tripolyphosphate concentrations) on encapsulation efficiency as well as to develop a mathematical model for prediction and determination of optimum conditions for the maximum encapsulation efficiency.
Section snippets
Materials
Medium-molecular weight chitosan (deacetylation degree 75–85%) (CS), quercetin (≥95%), sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) and Tween 80 were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Herbal galactagogue extract (containing Foeniculum vulgare, Cuminum cyminum, Trigonella foenum and Anethum graveolens extracts) was purchased from Goldaru Co. (Isfahan, Iran). The extract mixture was standardized on the basis of total flavonoid content (30 mg/100 mL) Aluminum chloride and potassium acetate were
Model evaluation
The encapsulation efficiencies obtained in different experiments are presented in Table 2. The quadratic model was selected as the best-fitting model having an insignificant lack of fit (0.3529) and maximum value of the adjusted R-squared and the predicted R-squared. The high value of R2 (0.9774) and R2 adjusted (0.9483) is an indicative of agreement between experimental results and the data predicted by the model. In order to find the significant parameters affecting the encapsulation
Conclusion
Encapsulation of herbal galactagogue extract in CS-TPP microcapsules using ionic gelation method in optimum condition (chitosan concentration of 1.19%, extract concentration of 2.69% and TPP concentration of 2.08%) produced spherical microcapsules with mean diameter of 27 μm and EE% of 83.054%. FTIR analysis revealed successful extract loading in alginate microcapsules. The in vitro release studies demonstrated a controlled release of extract in SGF and SIF and stability study showed that
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement
Support for this study provided by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences is gratefully acknowledged.
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