Abstract
The mechanical and barrier properties of plant-based enteric polymer films were enhanced by synergistic interactions between binary gum mixtures and adding plasticizers. The results indicated that the best ratio of gellan gum (GG) and xanthan gum (XG) was 7:3 by comparing tensile strength, tensile elongation, transmittance, and water vapor permeability of plant-based enteric polymer films and rheological properties of solutions. Polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG-400) was an effective plasticizer in improving plasticity and water vapor barrier property of the plant-based enteric polymer film. Rheology measurement and different characterization methods, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy, were used to explain interactions between GG and XG as well as PEG-400 and components of the film. The new mixed system, composed of GG/XG mixture with ratio of 7:3 as a novel gelling agent and PEG-400 as a plasticizer, was applied to prepare plant-based enteric hard capsules, which have potential applications in medicines and functional food preparations.
Highlights
Plant-based enteric polymer films are designed to be insoluble in gastric juice and soluble in intestinal juice and used to produce plant-based enteric hard capsules [1]
To modify the mechanical properties and water vapor permeability (WVP) of the plant-based enteric polymer films, xanthan gum (XG) was added to the films and the mixture of gellan gum (GG) and XG was used as a novel gelling agent
The increase of XG led to the gradual decrease of tensile elongation (TE), and the tensile strength (TS) of films increased from 51.6 MPa to the maximum of 68.0 MPa at a GG/XG mixing ratio of 7:3, they gradually decreased to 40.2MPa (Figure 1a)
Summary
Plant-based enteric polymer films are designed to be insoluble in gastric juice and soluble in intestinal juice and used to produce plant-based enteric hard capsules [1]. Plant-based enteric hard capsules without the requirement of a coating process have been reported. These studies mainly focused on the formulation and technological conditions of preparing enteric hard capsules without examining mechanical and barrier properties of the plant-based enteric polymer films [4,5,6,7,8]. Mechanical and barrier properties of the plant-based enteric polymer films are very important, which directly affect the disintegration properties and storage stability of capsules [9]. To the best of our knowledge, information on mechanical and barrier properties of plant-based enteric polymer films is hitherto rare
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