Synthesis and characterization of capsule shells non gelatin grass jelly leaves-seaweed as drug delivery system material

Drug delivery system is a system that describes the journey of a drug to its target location. The main component of the drug delivery system is gelatin. The leaves of grass jelly-seaweed are needed as a raw material for gelatin. The main component of gelling agents in grass jelly leaves and seaweed is a low-methoxy pectin polysaccharide. Pectin from previous study is used as a synthesis material for hard capsule shells with the addition of other ingredients, which are Na-CMC, sorbitol, and water. The characterization results of capsule shells with variations in the composition of grass jelly-seaweed leaves 0: 4, 1: 3, 2: 2, 3: 1, and 4: 0 (A, B, C, D and E) have a disolving time of 12 minutes 45 seconds; 15 minutes 53 seconds; 23 minutes 10 seconds; 15 minutes 35 seconds and 18 minutes 12 seconds. The swelling degree test each of 200%; 266,7%; 303.3%; 586.7% and 643.3%. Furthermore, the shells of grass jelly-seaweed leaf capsules were tested for their material performance in the cefadroxyl disolving test with variations in sampling time of 10, 20, and 30 minutes. Keywords: Cefadroxyl, Drug delivery system, Green grass jelly leaves, Non-gelatin capsules, Seaweed

Isolation and Biophysical Characterisation of Bioactive Polysaccharides from Cucurbita Moschata (Butternut Squash)

Cucurbits are plants that have been used frequently as functional foods. This study includes the extraction, isolation, and characterisation of the mesocarp polysaccharide of Cucurbita moschata. The polysaccharide component was purified by gel filtration into three fractions (NJBTF1, NJBTF2, and NJBTF3) of different molecular weights. Characterisation includes the hydrodynamic properties, identification of monosaccharide composition, and bioactivity. Sedimentation velocity also indicated the presence of small amounts of additional discrete higher molecular weight components even after fractionation. Sedimentation equilibrium revealed respective weight average molecular weights of 90, 31, and 19 kDa, with the higher fractions (NJBTF1 and NJBTF2) indicating a tendency to self-associate. Based on the limited amount of data (combinations of 3 sets of viscosity and sedimentation data corresponding to the 3 fractions), HYDFIT indicates an extended, semi-flexible coil conformation. Of all the fractions obtained, NJBTF1 showed the highest bioactivity. All fractions contained galacturonic acid and variable amounts of neutral sugars. To probe further, the extent of glycosidic linkages in NJBTF1 was estimated using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GCMS), yielding a high galacturonic acid content (for pectin polysaccharide) and the presence of fructans—the first evidence of fructans (levan) in the mesocarp. Our understanding of the size and structural flexibility together with the high bioactivity suggests that the polysaccharide obtained from C. moschata has the potential to be developed into a therapeutic agent.

Recent View on Pectin-Based Polysaccharide Nanoscience and Their Biological Applications

Polysaccharide polymer has advantageous applications in bio-field, engineering and food industry because of remarkable properties such as biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this review, we describe the pectin polysaccharide nanomaterials and how the chemistry of pectin works in the development of nanoparticles and nanowires fabrication. We also discussed the recent advances of pectin-based nanomaterials including their synthesis strategies and applications. This pectin nanoscience review can be more useful to gain insight into the pectin nanochemistry for the nanosciences of engineering.