Development of Vitamin C-Loaded Electrospun Nanofibers of Mixture of Polysaccharides of Pullulan/Xanthan Gum for Fast Dissolving Oral Film Applications

Abstract

In this study, polysaccharide-based nanofibrous fast dissolving oral films (FDOFs) were developed using pullulan (PUL) and xanthan gum (XG) via electrospinning. The edible, continuous, and bead-free nanofibers with average diameters ranging from 181.17 nm to 260.84 nm were prepared. The morphological, thermal, mechanical, and water-soluble properties of the nanofibrous FDOFs were characterized. For prospective future applications of the developed PUL/XG FDOFs, a model nutrient of vitamin C (VC) was encapsulated into the FDOFs. The success of VC encapsulation was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The encapsulation efficiency of VC was above 85% by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer. The amorphous structure of PUL/XG in the nanofibers film was demonstrated by X-ray diffractometer. In addition, the edible FDOFs could dissolve in water within 3 s. The nanofibers film we prepared could be used as nutrient or drug carriers and edible packaging film.

Keywords

• electrospinning
• polysaccharide
• pullulan
• xanthan gum
• fast dissolving oral films