title: Chitosan microspheres containing the natural urucum pigment.
abstract: An increasing trend in the food and pharmaceutical industries is toward replacing synthetic additives with natural products. However, in this regard, difficulties may be encountered due to the instability of such compounds. Encapsulation has become an important process to protect natural pigments. This paper reports on the encapsulation of the natural urucum pigment with chitosan using different techniques and its release under different pH conditions. The material loaded with pigment was evaluated by infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and thermal analysis. Chitosan was found to be an effective encapsulating agent for urucum pigment. No investigations have previously been reported on the relation of chitosan to the stability of encapsulated natural pigments.
authors.affiliation: QUITECH, Grupo de Pesquisa em Quitinas e Aplicações Tecnológicas da UFSC, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil. tereza@qmc.ufsc.br
authors.forename: T C R
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Parize
authors.forename: I M C
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Brighente
authors.forename: V T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Fávere
authors.forename: M C M
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Laranjeira
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants; D031212:Bixaceae; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning / Q000379:methods; D002338:Carotenoids; D048271:Chitosan; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004339:Drug Compounding / Q000379:methods; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D008863:Microspheres; D010316:Particle Size; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / Q000379:methods; D013499:Surface Properties; D013818:Thermogravimetry / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D002338:Carotenoids; D048271:Chitosan; C004588:bixin; C099823:norbixin