Effect Of Different Variables On The Formulation Of Sodium Alginate Beads

Abstract

This work examined the possibility of encapsulating prednisolone as drug modelling in Na-alginate polymeric beads. Our beads were formulated by ionotropic gelation method using Na-alginate as an anionic natural polysaccharide polymer and Cacl2  as a positive charge cross-linker. Eleven formulations were successfully created, and different variations were evaluated, including Na-alginate concentration ( 0.5, 2, 3) w/v %, Cacl2 concentration (1, 3, 5) w/v % stirring speed (100, 300, 400) rpm, the addition of tween-80 (0, 2.5, 5) ml, washing beads with alcohol,  change curing time. The beads were assayed by bead size, morphology, drug loading, encapsulation efficiency, yield and FTIR. The results showed that the best formula was F2 which can be obtained when using a high concentration of Na-alginate (2 w/v %), Cacl2 (5 w/v %), the addition of tween-80 (5ml) with the lowest stirring speed (100 rpm) without increase curing time or washing with alcohol. Also, the FTIR result revealed a shifting of the carbonyl group and a low intensity of the hydroxyl group in the spectrogram of F2, indicating potential hydrogen bond interactions that might have resulted in the creation of beads.