title: Preparation, characterization and in vitro digestibility of gellan and chitosan-gellan microgels.
abstract: Gellan microgels with potential application in delivery systems were obtained by physically cross-linked gellan gum. The microgels were produced by atomization followed by ionotropic gelation using CaCl2 (gellan/Ca) or KCl (gellan/K) as hardening agent and part of them were coated with chitosan in order to improve their resistance to gastric digestion. Size distribution, morphology and zeta potential of microgels were evaluated before and after in vitro digestion process. The long term stability was also evaluated. Spherical microparticles were obtained at gellan concentration above 0.6% w/w, showing average size among 70-120 μm. Most of the coated and uncoated microgels showed stability in aqueous media, except the uncoated gellan/K microgel. The in vitro digestion evaluation showed that all particles maintained their size and shape after the gastric digestion step. However, the enteric digestion caused disintegration of microgels indicating their potential application for enteric delivery systems. The chitosan-coated microgels showed lower degree of fragmentation when compared to the uncoated microgels, indicating that the coating process enable a better control of microgels releasing properties during the enteric digestion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Engineering, School of Food Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), R. Monteiro Lobato, 80, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Joice Aline Pires
authors.initials: JAP
authors.lastname: Vilela
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Engineering, School of Food Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), R. Monteiro Lobato, 80, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabiana de Assis
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Perrechil
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Engineering, School of Food Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), R. Monteiro Lobato, 80, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carolina Siqueira Franco
authors.initials: CSF
authors.lastname: Picone
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Engineering, School of Food Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), R. Monteiro Lobato, 80, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Carla Kawazoe
authors.initials: ACK
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Engineering, School of Food Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), R. Monteiro Lobato, 80, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: rosiane@fea.unicamp.br.
authors.forename: Rosiane Lopes da
authors.initials: RLD
authors.lastname: Cunha
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000737:chemistry; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D004355:Drug Stability; D005782:Gels; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry*; D011188:Potassium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; C048288:gellan gum; D048271:Chitosan; D011188:Potassium; D002118:Calcium
keywords: Chitosan; Gellan; In vitro digestion; Microgel