Natural Polymeric Beads for Encapsulation of Stellaria media Extract with Antioxidant Properties

Natural polymers are biodegradable and biocompatible and can be used as carriers of pharmaceutical active compounds, with good results for the enhancement of their stability characteristics.Plant extracts of the Cariophyllaceae family are of great interest due to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, carminative, anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral properties, and more recently, the ability to inhibit intestinal carboxylation and reduce obesity by complex mechanisms.The aim of our study was tocharacterize the Stellaria media aqueous extract from the point of view of total polyphenols (using Folin-Ciocalteu method) and antioxidant capacity, as well as the efficiency of inclusion of Stellaria extract in calcium chloride alginate beads by two different methods. In the same time, the size of alginate microcapsules was investigated along with the released efficiencyfrom the polymeric matrix in different biological fluids.Two different methods for encapsulation of Stellaria media extract were developed in this work, using calcium alginate beads. Encapsulating efficiency shows a better approach within the method in which the extract was in situ encapsulated in �pearls�-shaped beads.

Adsorptive removal of chromium(VI) from aqueous solution using binary bio-polymeric beads made from bagasse

In this study, bio-polymeric gel beads were made from synthetic and laboratory-made CMC (bagasse). Calcium chloride cross-linked with sodium alginate (Na-Alg) added to CMC displayed great affinity for the removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) ions present in an aqueous solution. Activated carbon obtained from bagasse was also used for adsorptive removal of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solution. The effect of different adsorption parameters such as pH, contact time and adsorbent dosage was studied. Bio-polymeric gel beads and activated carbon were prepared and characterized by SEM, FTIR and XRD. The maximum percentage removal for synthetic and bagasse bio-polymeric gel beads reaches 94.56% and 98.42% values at a pH of 4.0 at 25 °C and for activated carbon 64.79% value at a pH of 6.0 at 25 °C. Higher degree of substitution results in an increase in the percentage removal of Cr(VI) ions due to the increase in the surface area and the binding sites of the adsorbent. Our study suggests that bio-polymeric gel beads made from laboratory-made CMC (bagasse) can be used in a more cost-effective and efficient way for the removal of harmful chromium ions.