title: The effect of residual water on antacid properties of sucralfate gel dried by microwaves.
abstract: The aim of this work was to study the acid neutralization characteristics of microwave-dried sucralfate gel in relation to the water content and physical structure of the substance. Several dried sucralfate gels were compared with humid sucralfate gel and sucralfate nongel powder in terms of neutralization rate and buffering capacity. Humid sucralfate gel and microwave-dried gel exhibited antacid effectiveness. In particular, the neutralization rate of dried gel powders was inversely related to the water content: as the water content of dried powders decreased, the acid reaction rate linearly increased. The relationship was due to the different morphology of dried sucralfate gels. In fact, the porosity of the dried samples increased with the water reduction. However, the acid neutralization equivalent revealed that the dried sucralfate gel became more resistant to acid attack in the case of water content below 42%. Then, the microwave drying procedure had the opposite effect on the reactivity of the aluminum hydroxide component of dried sucralfate gel powders, since the rate of the reaction increased whereas the buffering capacity decreased as the amount of water was reduced.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I-43 100, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gainotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I-43 100, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Losi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I-43 100, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I-43 100, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I-43 100, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sonvico
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I-43 100, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baroni
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I-43 100, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Massimo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ferrara, via Fossato di Mortara 17-19, I-44100, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Gaia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I-43 100, Parma, Italy. pasquale.delgaudio@nemo.unipr.it.|Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Salerno, via Ponte don Melillo, I-84084, Fisciano, (SA), Italy. pasquale.delgaudio@nemo.unipr.it.
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Del Gaudio
keywords: Rossett-Rice test; antacid effectiveness; microwave drying; sucralfate gel; water content