Enhancing Pullulan Soft Capsules with a Mixture of Glycerol and Sorbitol Plasticizers: A Multi-Dimensional Study

Kecheng Zhou; Yucheng Yang; Bingde Zheng; Qiqi Yu; Yayan Huang; Na Zhang; Shriram Mourougane Rama; Xueqin Zhang; Jing Ye; Meitian Xiao

doi:10.3390/polym15102247

Enhancing Pullulan Soft Capsules with a Mixture of Glycerol and Sorbitol Plasticizers: A Multi-Dimensional Study

Kecheng Zhou
, Yucheng Yang (Corresponding author)
, Bingde Zheng
, Qiqi Yu
, Yayan Huang
, Na Zhang
, Shriram Mourougane Rama
, Xueqin Zhang
, Jing Ye
, Meitian Xiao (Corresponding author)

Chemical Engineering and Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

14 Citations (SciVal)

70 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The plasticizer is crucial in the plant-based soft capsule. However, meeting the quality requirements of these capsules with a single plasticizer is challenging. To address this issue, this study first investigated the impact of a plasticizer mixture containing sorbitol and glycerol in varying mass ratios and the performance of the pullulan soft film and capsule. The multiscale analysis demonstrates that the plasticizer mixture exhibits superior effectiveness in enhancing the performance of the pullulan film/capsule compared to a single plasticizer. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy indicate that the plasticizer mixture enhances the compatibility and thermal stability of the pullulan films without altering their chemical composition. Among the different mass ratios examined, a 15:15 ratio of sorbitol to glycerol (S/G) is identified as the most optimal, leading to superior physicochemical properties and meeting the requirements for brittleness and disintegration time set by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. This study provides significant insights into the effect of the plasticizer mixture on the performance of pullulan soft capsules and offers a promising application formula for future use.

Original language	English
Article number	2247
Journal	Polymers
Volume	15
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15102247
Publication status	Published - 2 May 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81703390, 22078120), the Major Special Topic of Science and Technology of Fujian Province (Grant No.2020NZ012013), the Fujian Province Marine Economic Development Special (Grant No.FJHJG-L-2022-6), Fund Project the Foreign Cooperation Project of Fujian Province (Grant No. 2021I0016’ and ‘2022I0016), and the Industry-university-research collaboration project of Xiamen (Grant No. 2022CXY02010).

Funding

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81703390, 22078120), the Major Special Topic of Science and Technology of Fujian Province (Grant No.2020NZ012013), the Fujian Province Marine Economic Development Special (Grant No.FJHJG-L-2022-6), Fund Project the Foreign Cooperation Project of Fujian Province (Grant No. 2021I0016’ and ‘2022I0016), and the Industry-university-research collaboration project of Xiamen (Grant No. 2022CXY02010).

Keywords

glycerol
plant polysaccharide
plasticizer mixture
soft capsule
sorbitol

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10.3390/polym15102247

pdfFinal published version, 3.26 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Enhancing Pullulan Soft Capsules with a Mixture of Glycerol and Sorbitol Plasticizers: A Multi-Dimensional Study",

abstract = "The plasticizer is crucial in the plant-based soft capsule. However, meeting the quality requirements of these capsules with a single plasticizer is challenging. To address this issue, this study first investigated the impact of a plasticizer mixture containing sorbitol and glycerol in varying mass ratios and the performance of the pullulan soft film and capsule. The multiscale analysis demonstrates that the plasticizer mixture exhibits superior effectiveness in enhancing the performance of the pullulan film/capsule compared to a single plasticizer. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy indicate that the plasticizer mixture enhances the compatibility and thermal stability of the pullulan films without altering their chemical composition. Among the different mass ratios examined, a 15:15 ratio of sorbitol to glycerol (S/G) is identified as the most optimal, leading to superior physicochemical properties and meeting the requirements for brittleness and disintegration time set by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. This study provides significant insights into the effect of the plasticizer mixture on the performance of pullulan soft capsules and offers a promising application formula for future use.",

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author = "Kecheng Zhou and Yucheng Yang and Bingde Zheng and Qiqi Yu and Yayan Huang and Na Zhang and \{Mourougane Rama\}, Shriram and Xueqin Zhang and Jing Ye and Meitian Xiao",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81703390, 22078120), the Major Special Topic of Science and Technology of Fujian Province (Grant No.2020NZ012013), the Fujian Province Marine Economic Development Special (Grant No.FJHJG-L-2022-6), Fund Project the Foreign Cooperation Project of Fujian Province (Grant No. 2021I0016{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}2022I0016), and the Industry-university-research collaboration project of Xiamen (Grant No. 2022CXY02010). ",

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T2 - A Multi-Dimensional Study

AU - Zhou, Kecheng

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AU - Zheng, Bingde

AU - Yu, Qiqi

AU - Huang, Yayan

AU - Zhang, Na

AU - Mourougane Rama, Shriram

AU - Zhang, Xueqin

AU - Ye, Jing

AU - Xiao, Meitian

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81703390, 22078120), the Major Special Topic of Science and Technology of Fujian Province (Grant No.2020NZ012013), the Fujian Province Marine Economic Development Special (Grant No.FJHJG-L-2022-6), Fund Project the Foreign Cooperation Project of Fujian Province (Grant No. 2021I0016’ and ‘2022I0016), and the Industry-university-research collaboration project of Xiamen (Grant No. 2022CXY02010).

PY - 2023/5/2

Y1 - 2023/5/2

N2 - The plasticizer is crucial in the plant-based soft capsule. However, meeting the quality requirements of these capsules with a single plasticizer is challenging. To address this issue, this study first investigated the impact of a plasticizer mixture containing sorbitol and glycerol in varying mass ratios and the performance of the pullulan soft film and capsule. The multiscale analysis demonstrates that the plasticizer mixture exhibits superior effectiveness in enhancing the performance of the pullulan film/capsule compared to a single plasticizer. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy indicate that the plasticizer mixture enhances the compatibility and thermal stability of the pullulan films without altering their chemical composition. Among the different mass ratios examined, a 15:15 ratio of sorbitol to glycerol (S/G) is identified as the most optimal, leading to superior physicochemical properties and meeting the requirements for brittleness and disintegration time set by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. This study provides significant insights into the effect of the plasticizer mixture on the performance of pullulan soft capsules and offers a promising application formula for future use.

AB - The plasticizer is crucial in the plant-based soft capsule. However, meeting the quality requirements of these capsules with a single plasticizer is challenging. To address this issue, this study first investigated the impact of a plasticizer mixture containing sorbitol and glycerol in varying mass ratios and the performance of the pullulan soft film and capsule. The multiscale analysis demonstrates that the plasticizer mixture exhibits superior effectiveness in enhancing the performance of the pullulan film/capsule compared to a single plasticizer. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy indicate that the plasticizer mixture enhances the compatibility and thermal stability of the pullulan films without altering their chemical composition. Among the different mass ratios examined, a 15:15 ratio of sorbitol to glycerol (S/G) is identified as the most optimal, leading to superior physicochemical properties and meeting the requirements for brittleness and disintegration time set by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. This study provides significant insights into the effect of the plasticizer mixture on the performance of pullulan soft capsules and offers a promising application formula for future use.

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ER -

Enhancing Pullulan Soft Capsules with a Mixture of Glycerol and Sorbitol Plasticizers: A Multi-Dimensional Study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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Huaqiao University Researcher Describes Findings in Plasticizers (Enhancing Pullulan Soft Capsules with a Mixture of Glycerol and Sorbitol Plasticizers: A Multi-Dimensional Study)

Cite this

Enhancing Pullulan Soft Capsules with a Mixture of Glycerol and Sorbitol Plasticizers: A Multi-Dimensional Study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Press/Media

Huaqiao University Researcher Describes Findings in Plasticizers (Enhancing Pullulan Soft Capsules with a Mixture of Glycerol and Sorbitol Plasticizers: A Multi-Dimensional Study)

Cite this