Corn protein (zein) based fibers can provide controlled release of desired compounds and has been of recent interest. These renewable and biodegradable fibers have value in medical applications for delivery of medicines or in industrial applications where reagents may be released to control molds/mildew. While zein fibers have been tested in controlled release applications, the impact that crosslinking the protein has on release has not been evaluated. To study the effect of crosslinks in zein, zein was allowed to react with glyoxal (GLY) and the rate of release of pyridoxine (PYR) was monitored in ethanol solvent at temperatures between 4 and 45 C. For both the control and 9% GLY fibers the rate of release increases with increasing temperature. For control fibers, at 4, 21 and 45 C, the rate of release was 0.4, 1.0 and 1.6 micrograms per mL-min respectively. For zein fibers treated with 9% GLY, the rate of PYR release at these same temperatures was 0.3, 0.7 and 1.2 micrograms per mL-min respectively. Based on these release rates, the apparent Energy of Activation for the release of pyridoxine from the 9% GLY fibers was 16 kJ/mole. Films samples released PYR 3-4x slower at 21 C and 45 C. This research will be useful for those researchers interested in developing controlled release applications.

Impact of cross-linking on rate of release of pyridoxine from Zein fibers and films

249th National Meeting (2015)

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