Abstract
The microstructure of the drug delivery carriers is of paramount importance for their design and in vitro - in vivo performance. To this end, in this work, the swelling and erosion phenomena of quercetin-loaded alginate beads of sizes smaller than 0.6 ± 0.1 mm, prepared by ionic gelation, are tracked by stereoscopic observation as a strategy to know the particle structure. Aggregates of polymer and precipitated quercetin are found homogeneously distributed within the particle matrix, that may be helpful to increase the drug load. In addition, the details of the particle surface (cracks, holes and other imperfections) appear to govern the non-homogeneous swollen and erosion. Altogether, these findings provide complementary evidence on alginate microparticle structure to be considered when the design of this kind of carriers is intended.
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