Effect of Citric Acid Concentration on the Physicochemical Properties and Release Profile of Ibuprofen-loaded Digitaria exilis Starch Nanoparticles

Abstract

Nanoparticulate drug delivery systems(NPDDS) have been exploited to overcome the limitations of oral drug delivery.This study evaluated the physicochemical properties of starch citrate andrelease profile of Ibuprofen from Digitaria exilis starch nanoparticles prepared by the nanoprecipitation method in the presence of Tween80. Nanoparticles were obtained by preparing starch citrate at differentconcentrations (10 %, 20 % and 30 %) using citric acid, it was dissolved in sodium hydroxidesolution (30 % w/w) and precipitatedwith absolute ethanol. Physicochemicalcharacterization of native and cross-linked Digitaria exilis starch wereundertaken, including FTIR, DSC and XRD. The Encapsulation efficiency, loadingcapacity, particle size, polydispersity index, SEM, in-vitro release and release kinetics of the nanoparticles werealso undertaken. Results show that cross-linking significantly influenced thephysicochemical properties of native starch. FTIR reveals an introduction of aC=O group at 20 % concentration of CA, which produced particles in the nanometrerange (933 nm), with a smooth and spherical structure revealed by SEM. Thecross-linked nanoparticles at 20 % showed a controlled release, with thehighest cumulative drug release of 40.44 % in 24 h. Citric acid cross-linked D. exilis starch can be utilized as acost-effective vehicle for the sustained delivery of biomolecules.

Keywords

• citric acid
• starch
• digitaria exilis
• nanoparticles