Polysaccharides are widely used in food, chemical, textile, medicine and other industries because their natural abundance, biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-toxicity and relatively low cost. However, polysaccharides have limited applications because their physical and chemical properties are greatly altered under processing conditions that involve variation in temperature and shear stress. Chemical modifications are commonly applied to develop desirable functional properties such as texture, solubility and controlled release. In this work, Candelilla wax nanoparticles, produced from extracts of Candelilla wild plants (Euphorbia antisyphilitica), are added to chitosan and corn starch solutions to obtain microparticles by spray drying process. As concentration of wax nanoparticles increases, the morphology of resulting microparticles changes from concave and shriveled to more spherical particles. A plausible mechanism for morphology development is explained in terms of the outward diffusion of water during drying. The swelling power of microparticles containing wax nanoparticles is slower than those of native polysaccharides matrices, suggesting that hydrophobic character of wax nanoparticles and their physical interactions with the polymer matrix decrease the hydration capacity. Due to the direct relationship between the swelling power and the structure of the material, the polysaccharides matrices containing wax nanoparticles are studied as encapsulating matrices for fertilizers by spray drying. The resulting microencapsulates demonstrate to be useful as controlled-release fertilizer systems. Considering the abovementioned features, interesting approaches for controlling the release of compounds are discussed.

Natural wax nanoparticles induce changes in morphology and physical properties of polysaccharides after spray drying: Applications for development of controlled-release formulations

2019 Fall National Meeting

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