Spray-drying encapsulation of mangiferin using natural polymers

Microencapsulation processes, such as spray-drying are an alternative to enhance solubility of bioactive materials and a good way to preserve, protect and control the release rate of a substance until it reaches its target in the body. Mangiferin is an active phytochemical present in various plants including Mangifera indica L. This substance is reported to have anti-cancer, antioxidant and other properties, but has a low solubility in aqueous medium. In this work mangiferin was encapsulated with four different natural polymers compositions by using spray-drying techniques. The products were characterized by FTIR, SEM and HPLC–ESI-MS. A calibration curve was constructed by HPLC to determine the efficiency of mangiferin incorporation into each encapsulate. The highest encapsulation efficiency was determined to be for pectins using Polysorbate 80 (Tween 80) as emulsifier. The nature of the polysaccharide as well as the surfactant used has a considerable influence on drug retaining ability during the spray-drying process.