Stability Evaluation of Caulerpa racemosa as Novel Halal Capsule-Shell

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The capsule shell is generally made from mammalian gelatin; according to Europe gelatine manufacturers of Europe, about 80% of the base material of the capsule shell comes from pork skin and 15% from cow skin. This raises a great deal of concern in the community, especially on the religious aspect. Muslims are prohibited from consuming anything made from pork, while Hindus are forbidden from consuming anything made from beef. To reduce public concern, an alternative medicine shell made from natural ingredients is necessary. AIM: This study aims to discover the potential of a new medicinal shell, which is made from the stem of sea grapes (Caulerpa racemosa). METHODS: This laboratory experimental study used a completely randomized design with three treatment variations, namely, the ratio between the volume of chitosan and tripolyphosphate in Sample 1 (V1) was 2:1, Sample 2 (V2) was 3.5:1, and Sample 3 (V3) is 5:1. Each sample was replicated 3 times (triples) and used the analytical method of the association of official analytical chemists. The dough is then printed on capsules of size O (300–500 mg; 0.5 g). RESULTS: The results obtained are the particle size, polydispersity index, and zeta potential of V1, V2, and V3 that are significantly different (p < 0.0001, p = 0.0004, and p < 0.0001) based on the one-way Analysis of variance test. CONCLUSION: From these results, the V3 nanocapsule variant is the best variant and has the potential to be an alternative to drug capsule shells.