Production, Properties and Transit of Copper-Pectic Gel Particles through an Artificial Gastroenteric Environment

Abstract

Spherical copper-pectic gel particles (CuPGPs) were obtained from aqueous solutions of commercial apple pectin (AP) AU701 (2%, 4%) in the presence of copper ions (CuCl2, 1%-10%), and their morphological (diameter) and structural-mechanical (density) characteristics were studied. It was found that with an increase in the concentration of AP from 2% to 4%, the diameter of dry gel particles at all tested concentrations of copper chloride (1-10%) increased from 0.64-0.76 mm (2% AP) to 0.87-0.94 mm (4% AP), and that the density of dry gel particles with an increase in the concentration of AP also increased from 1.27-1.48 mg/mm3 (2% AP) to 1.42-1.55 mg/mm3 (4% AP). The swelling and degradation of the obtained CuPGPs in an artificial gastroenteric environment was studied. It has been established that the CuPGPs based on 4% AP with 10% CuCl2 have the highest degree of swelling in the acidic environment of the intestinal gastric fluid (SGF). CuPGPs, depending on the concentration of AP and copper ions, are degraded in different parts of the intestine—in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) or simulated colonic fluid (SCF).