Garcinia atroviridis fruit has been shown to express anti-obesity activity as a result of its
bioactive compound, hydroxycitric acid (HCA). HCA is effective in decreasing appetite,
inhibiting fat synthesis, and reducing body weight. However, HCA is very unstable
towards certain conditions thus limiting its bioavailability. To overcome the issue of HCA
instability, HCA was encapsulated in chitosan (CS) nanoparticles in this study. CS
nanoparticles were prepared based on ionic gelation using sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP)
as a cross-linking agent. The concentration of chitosan and TPP: chitosan volume ratios
were varied and the resulting nanoparticles were characterized based on zeta potential,
particle size, encapsulation efficiency (EE%), and kinetics release. The most optimum
nanoparticle was obtained with a combination of 1.5 mg/mL chitosan with a CS: TPP
volume ratio of 4: 1. Zeta potential was measured by approximately 49 mV. The size of
the particle at optimum condition was found to be 140 nm and the nanoparticle had high
encapsulation efficiency (87.55±5.35%). G. atroviridis extract release from CS
nanoparticles followed either Higuchi or Korsmeyer Peppas kinetic model. FT-IR studies
indicated that G. atroviridis was encapsulated in CS nanoparticles. The present study
revealed that concentration of chitosan, and CS: TPP volume ratio can significantly
change the physical characteristics of the nanoparticles and this provides an avenue for
formulators to engineer CS nanoparticles according to needs.
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