Pharmaceutical and biomedical applications of starch-based drug delivery system: A review

Abstract

The limitation of conventional drug delivery systems such as specificity, bioavailability, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and parenteral administration have been overcome with the advent of nanomaterials as cargo for targeted drug delivery to combat communicable and non-communicable diseases. Recently carbohydrate-based polymers have received much interest as drug delivery systems (DDS) owing to their biocompatible nature, enhanced encapsulation efficiency, eco-friendly nature, low cost, and controlled release of drugs. Abundance, cost-effectiveness, eco-friendly and biocompatible nature of the starch have turned the focus of researchers towards starch as a suitable candidate for drug delivery, food packaging and biomedical applications as filler, dis-integrant and binder due to its enhanced loading efficiency, slow sustained release of therapeutics, Siddha and Ayurvedic formulation and bioactive compounds to the specific site. Despite these advantages, native starch has certain limitation due to its poor functional properties, hence functionalization and surface modification by physical, chemical, and enzymatic methods is essential to improve starch's pharmaceutical application such as DDS, implants, stent, transdermal and ophthalmic systems. The present review focuses on fabrication, surface functionalization and modification (physical, chemical, and biotechnological methods) and characterization of starch nanoparticles as micro and nano-based DDS and its application in cancer therapy, treatment of neurodegenerative disorder and infectious disorder.