Nano and Microencapsulation

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Nano and microencapsulation is a technology that involves enclosing active substances within nanometer- or micrometer-sized carriers to enhance their stability, control their release, and improve their bioavailability. This technique is widely used in pharmaceuticals, food science, and materials engineering to protect sensitive compounds and optimize their delivery.

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Key research themes

1. How can microencapsulation techniques be optimized for protecting and delivering functional compounds in food and pharmaceutical matrices?

This research area focuses on the development and refinement of microencapsulation processes to enhance the stability, controlled release, and bioavailability of sensitive bioactive compounds in foods and pharmaceutical products. It addresses challenges such as degradation during processing/storage, masking undesirable flavors, improving handling, and targeting release under specific conditions, using various wall materials and encapsulation methods.

Advances in the Application of Microcapsules as Carriers of Functional Compounds for Food Products

by Vitor Alves

2023, Applied Sciences

Key finding: Identified that microencapsulation using food-grade polymers like maltodextrin and arabic gum effectively protects natural bioactives (e.g., antioxidants, essential oils) against degradation caused by heat, pH, moisture, and... Read more

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Microencapsulation: An overview on concepts, methods, properties and applications in foods

by Kalyan Das

2024, Food Frontiers

Key finding: Provided a systematic analysis of various microencapsulation techniques (e.g., spray drying, coacervation, extrusion) and encapsulants (carbohydrates, lipids, gums, proteins), demonstrating how their physicochemical... Read more

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Optimization of a Microencapsulation Process Using Oil-in-Water (O/W) Emulsion to Increase Thermal Stability of Sulforaphane

by Victor Zambrano

2023, Foods

Key finding: Optimized an oil-in-water emulsion based microencapsulation for sulforaphane (an unstable bioactive), achieving 65% entrapment efficiency and enhanced thermal stability at temperatures up to 70°C. Demonstrated through... Read more

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Preparation of starch derivatives using reactive extrusion and evaluation of modified starches as shell materials for encapsulation of flavoring agents by spray drying

by Beneranda Murua

2022, Journal of Food Engineering

Key finding: Demonstrated that reactive extrusion can prepare chemically modified starches (n-octenylsuccinylated, acetylated, phosphorylated) with improved emulsifying properties and solubility, leading to enhanced spray-drying... Read more

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Poly(lactic acid) microcapsules: Tailoring properties via solid state polymerization

by Stamatina Vouyiouka

2025, Polymer Degradation and Stability

Key finding: Showed that tuning molecular weight and crystallinity of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) enables adjustment of microcapsule shell barrier properties, directly influencing controlled release profiles of encapsulated actives. Found... Read more

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2. What novel materials and fabrication approaches enhance the mechanical stability and functional versatility of micro- and nanocapsules?

This theme investigates innovative shell materials and synthesis strategies for micro/nanocapsules that confer enhanced mechanical robustness, tunable release, and multi-functionality, extending applications beyond conventional polymeric shells. It explores particle-stabilized capsules, nanomaterials incorporation, and UV-assisted rapid fabrication methods to produce capsules with high stability, controlled size, and improved biological or industrial performance.

Particle-stabilized gel-core microcapsules: Synthesis and properties

by Ludwig J Gauckler

2017

Key finding: Introduced a versatile synthesis method using in-situ surface hydrophobization to assemble diverse nanoparticles (e.g., gamma and alpha alumina) into mechanically stable gel-core microcapsules. Demonstrated capsule sizes... Read more

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A Rapid Method for Low Temperature Microencapsulation of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) Using a Coiled Tube Ultraviolet Reactor

by Mohammed Farid

2024, Energies

Key finding: Developed a low-temperature UV radiation-driven suspension polymerization method in a novel coiled tube reactor, enabling rapid fabrication of poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) shell microcapsules containing phase change... Read more

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Biofunctionalized Nanomaterials: Alternative for Encapsulation Process Enhancement

by Jorge Alberto Sánchez-Burgos

2025, Polysaccharides

Key finding: Reviewed the impact of biofunctionalization on nanomaterials used in encapsulation, highlighting how surface modifications optimize physicochemical properties (size, zeta potential, polydispersity) and biological... Read more

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Antimicrobial and Hydrophilic Behavior of Soluble Soy Polysaccharide Starch/Cold Water Fish Gelatin Films Incorporated with Nano-Titanium Dioxide

by Anna Etemadi Razliqi

2023, Journal of Chemical Health Risks

Key finding: Demonstrated that incorporation of nano-TiO2 particles into soy polysaccharide starch/cold water fish gelatin films significantly improves moisture resistance and imparts antimicrobial properties against Staphylococcus aureus... Read more

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Technical Note: Melt Dispersion Technique for the Preparation of Paraffin Wax Microspheres for Cellulose Encapsulation

by Brian Via

2024, Wood and fiber science: journal of the Society of Wood Science and Technology

Key finding: Presented a melt dispersion method to produce paraffin wax microspheres (10–60 µm) with surfactant ratio-dependent uniform sizes, and successfully encapsulated microcrystalline cellulose particles. The resulting microcapsules... Read more

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3. How can micro- and nanoencapsulation technologies be leveraged to improve delivery and efficacy of pharmaceuticals and bioactives?

This research direction explores micro/nanoscale encapsulation systems designed to overcome pharmacological challenges such as poor solubility, limited bioavailability, toxicity, and rapid clearance of drugs and natural bioactives. It considers diverse carriers like liposomes, polymeric microspheres, and nanomicelles engineered for controlled release, improved stability, and targeted delivery, often with systematic optimization and physicochemical characterization.

Encapsulation and physicochemical evaluation of efavirenz in liposomes

by Nnamdi Ikemefuna Okafor, PhD

2023, Journal of pharmaceutical investigation

Key finding: Achieved near-complete (99%) encapsulation efficiency of the antiretroviral drug efavirenz in soy lecithin-cholesterol liposomes with an average size of ~411 nm and high zeta potential (−53.5 mV), producing stable nanoscale... Read more

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Microencapsulation of alpha-mangostin into PLGA microspheres and optimization using response surface methodology intended for pulmonary delivery

by Farahidah Mohamed

2021

Key finding: Optimized encapsulation of alpha-mangostin into biodegradable PLGA microspheres with aerodynamic diameter (~784 nm) suitable for pulmonary delivery. Achieved 39.12% encapsulation efficiency with controlled release over 4... Read more

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All papers in Nano and Microencapsulation

Biological Control of Parasites

by Kwenti E Tebit

Parasites (ectoparasites or endoparasites) are a major cause of diseases in man, his live‐ stock and crops, leading to poor yield and great economic loss. To overcome some of the major limitations of chemical control methods such as... more

In nature, the population size of every species is regulated by natural environmental fac tors. These factors are responsible for the “checks and balances” of a population of livin organisms. The event where living organisms live and die a natural death unaided by man i termed “natural control”. Weather (abiotic or non-living factors) is an important factor in nat ural control; temperature and humidity are determinants of the survival of living organisms Availability of competition (biotic factors) is also an important determinant for the survival c living organisms [1]. Many organisms are killed by pathogens (disease-causing agents) suc as bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites (parasitoids) and predators [1]. Keywords: biological control, biological control agents, parasites, humans, plants, livestock, case study, challenges

Figure 1. Images of some common parasites/pests (centre cycle) and biological control agents (external cycles) used in the biocontrol of parasites. Between 1850 and 1887, the concept of biological control switched to the United States. In 1870, Charles V. Riley was the first person to conduct the successful movement of parasit- oids for biological control when parasitoids were moved from Kirkwood, Missouri, to other parts of the United States for the control of the weevil (Conotrachelus menuphar). In 1883, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) imported Apanteles glomeratus from England to con- trol Pieris rapea (the imported cabbageworm) parasites that were distributed in DC, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri. This marked the first intercontinental shipment of parasites. It was not until the 1800s that well-thought-out biological control projects were implemented across Europe. In 1888, the cottony cushion scale project was launched to control the cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchase, which was threatening to destroy the infant citrus industry. This was the first project to be launched. Since then, many projects have been launched including the gypsy moth project in New England (1905-1911) [5].

Fungi that infect and kill arthropod (insects, ticks or mites) pests are referred to as “ento- mopathogenic fungi”. Over 750 species of entomopathogenic fungi have been identified, a majority of them belong to the phylum Ascomycota and a few to the phylum Zygomycota and Ascomycotina [45]. Unlike the other BCAs, some fungi do not need to be ingested by the host [33]; entomopathogenic fungi produce spores as the insect comes in contact with these spores either on the body of dead insects or surfaces or in the air as airborne particles; the spores Parasites that attack other parasites are generally referred to as parasitoids. Parasitoids are very diverse in appearance, biology and the hosts they attack. Parasitoids lay their eggs on or in the body of an insect host, which is then used as food for the developing larvae. The host is ultimately killed. Most insect parasitoids are wasps or flies and may have a very narrow host range. The most important groups are the ichneumonid wasps, which prey mainly on cater- pillars of butterflies and moths; braconid wasps, which attack caterpillars and a wide range of other insects including greenfly; chalcid wasps, which parasitize eggs and larvae of greenfly, whitefly [40], cabbage caterpillars and scale insects and tachinid flies, which parasitize a wide range of insects including caterpillars, adult and larval beetles and true bugs [37, 41-44].

resistance, environmental and health risks and the potential effect to non-target organisms. In addition to the previously mentioned biological control agents, parasites could also be control organic ed naturally through botanicals [163-167], photosensitizers [168, 169], symbiotic [170], [171] and short-chain fatty acids [172]. Biological control approaches hold promise as the most suitable alternative to the chemical pesticides and are now a core component of IPM. A good number of promising BCAs including predators, parasites (parasitoids) and patho- gens (fungi, bacteria, viruses and virus-like particles, protozoa and nematodes) have been identified and proven to be efficacious against many parasites of medical, veterinary and agri- cultura importance, as highlighted in the chapter [25, 49, 85]. In the past, biological control has been applied successfully to control parasites especially in the agricultural sector [120]. However, there are still many challenges in the implementation of biological control strate- gies including their potential effects on native biodiversity [133-135], the unwillingness to ditch the chemical methods for BCAs by farmers [129] and challenges in the production and distribution of the BCAs [136]. With the recent advances in biotechnology and the application of most recent technologies such as nanotechnology [145] and microencapsulation [162], there are many opportunities for the continued use and expanded role of natural enemies in biolog- ical control; newer BCAs are being identified and older ones are being genetically engineered to make them more efficacious in their antagonism of parasites. There is, therefore, optimism that in the future, biological control will develop to overcome many of the challenges, and BCAs will become the mainstay for the control of parasites. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon

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Preparation of starch derivatives using reactive extrusion as shell materials for encapsulation

by Beneranda Murua

Journal of Food Engeineering

Acetylated, n-octenylsuccinylated (n-OSA) and phosphorylated waxy maize starches were prepared using reactive extrusion in a single-screw extruder. The starches were hydrolyzed with hydrochloric acid (3.4% dry basis, at 50 C for 6 h)... more

Fig. 2. Viscosity profiles of (a) waxy maize starch phosphate prepared by the conventional method in a slurry extruded after chemical modification, (b) waxy maize starch phosphate prepared by extrusion, (c) control starch N-LOK and (d) waxy maize starch phosphate prepared by extrusion hydrolyzed with acid before chemical modification. High solubility and low viscosity are desirable for a good encap- sulating agent to be used in spray-drying. During acid thinning, the amorphous regions in the starch granules are preferentially hydro- lyzed, though the granular structure is preserved (Qi and Xu, 1999). Further dextrinization is required to obtain modified starches with good encapsulating characteristics. During extrusion, the starch granules disintegrate completely or partially depending on the level of energy input, shearing effect, and pressure build-up (Rubens and Heremans, 2000). The distinctive “Maltese cross” effect (birefringence) was observed when starch granules

Fig. 3. Microphotographs of starch granules (a) acid hydrolyzed waxy maize starch, (b) extruded acetylated starch, (c) extruded succinylated starch and (d) phosphorylate starch by extrusion. Observations were made with a polarized light microscope. A low DS of 0.033 was obtained for acetylated starch. Phillips et al. (1999) reported a percent of acetylation of 1.12 in waxy maize starch using the same conditions and concentration of acetic anhydride as those used in this work, which corresponds to a DS value of 0.04 according to the calculation suggested by the same authors. Considering that starch acetate with DS 0.01-0.2 is ap- proved by the FDA for food use, the concentration of acetate anhy- dride can be increased for starch acetylation resulting in improved hydrophobic properties of the starch. Phosphorus content of phosphorylated starch was 0.87% and degree of substitution of starch phosphates was 0.046; these val- ues agree with those reported by Chang and Lii (1992) for corn starch. Kim et al. (1999) found that the incorporation of phospho- rus to rice starch was 0.376% using 4% of STP at 180 °C. Reports in the literature on the effectiveness of STP in starch phosphorylation are inconsistent. Landerito and Wang (2005) produced starch phosphates by extrusion using a combination of STP and sodium trimetaphosphate with waxy maize starch that resulted in a phos-

Fig. 4. FTIR spectra of (a) waxy maize starch, (b) starch acetate, (c) starch phosphate and (d) starch succinate. FT-IR spectroscopy was used to verify the change in the chem- ical structures of starch molecules resulting from esterification. The introduction of carbonyl groups of OSA and acetic anhydride could be confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. The FTIR spectra of na- tive starch and starch derivatives are shown in Fig. 4. Waxy maize starch and the starch derivatives have similar profiles being of less intensity those of modified starches. In the fingerprint region, there are several absorption bands at 1151, 1077, 1005 and 928 cm“! which were attributed to C-O bond stretching (Fang et al., 2004). Another characteristic absorption band occurred at 1652 cm7!, which presumable originates from tightly bound water present in the starch (Song et al., 2006). The band at 2933 cm~’ is character- istic of the C-H stretching vibration. An extremely broad band resulting from vibration of the hydroxyl groups (O-H) appeared at 3242 cm~!. Compared with native starch, the spectrum of OSA starch shows a new absorption band at 1726 cm~', which suggest the formation of ester carbonyl groups (Marcazzan et al., 1999; Thygessen et al., 2003; Fang et al., 2004). In the alkaline systems, OSA starch is synthesized in the form of starch sodium octenylsuc-

Fig. 5. Physical structure of encapsulated Orange peel oil powder. Shell materials: (a) starch acetate, (b) starch phosphate, (c) n-OSA starch and (d) N-LOK The hydrophobic nature of the acetyl group of starch acetates provided emulsifying capabilities to these starches. The low degree of substitution of the starch acetates prepared in this work (0.03) can be increased as it has been reported their use in foods with a degree of substitution of 0.01-0.2 (de Graaf et al., 1998; Xu et al.,

Water absorption index (WAI) and water solubility index (WSI) of raw waxy maize starch, starch phosphate, acetate and succinate prepared by reactive extrusion. Results are mean + standard error of mean value (n = 3). Means within WSI column that have no common superscript are significantly different (P < 0.05). “ Hydrolysis conditions: 2.5 h, 3 g pure HCI/100 g starch, at 40 °C. ® Commercial starch used as control. Table 1

1.D. Not determined. Results are mean of three determinations. Means within total oil retention column that have no common superscript are significantly differe P< 0.05). Encapsulation performance of modified starches by spray drying. Table 2

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Microencapsulation of alpha-mangostin into PLGA microspheres and optimization using response surface methodology intended for pulmonary delivery

by Farah Mohamed

Documented to exhibit cytotoxicity and poor oral bioavailability, alpha-mangostin was encapsulated into PLGA microspheres with optimization of formulation using response surface methodology. Mixed levels of four factors Face central... more

Figure 1. (a) Three-dimensional response surface plot (left) with its corresponding contour plot (right) of the alpha-mangostin microspheres prepared at constant high level | for both sonication time of secondary emulsion (5 min) and ratio of oil phase (10:1). The encapsulation efficiency was at highest (more than 36%) at red region of the plot (middle left corner) corresponds to lowest level of PVA concentration (less than 2%) with intermediate to highest level of sonication time for primary emulsion (1.5—3 min). (b) Three-dimensional response surface plot (left) with its corresponding contour plot (right) of the loaded microspheres prepared at constant centre point O level for primary emulsion sonication time (2 min) but at high level 1 for secondary emulsion sonication time (5 min). The encapsulation efficiency was at highest (more than 36%) at red region of the plot (uppermost left comer) corresponds to highest ratio of oil phase 1:10 but at lowest concentration of PVA (1% w/v).

Figure 2. (a) Three-dimensional response surface plot (left) with its corresponding contour plot (right) of the loaded microspheres prepared at constant high level 1 for both sonication time of secondary emulsion (5 min) and ratio of oil phase (10:1). The particle size is within desirable geometric diameter (more than 2 1m) at red region of the plot (from middle to right side) corresponding to PVA concentration of 3-5% w/v and occurs throughout all levels of sonication time for primary emulsion. (b) Three-dimensional response surface plot (left) with its corresponding contour plot (right) of the loaded microspheres prepared at constant centre point 0 level for primary emulsion sonication time (2 min) but at high level | for secondary emulsion sonication time (5 min). The particle size was within desirable geometric diameter at red region of the plot (lower right corner) corresponding to lowest ratio of oil phase (1:1) but at PVA concentration of 3-5% w/v.

Figure 3. (a) Three-dimensional response surface plot (left) with its corresponding contour plot (right) of alpha-mangostin microspheres prepared < constant centre point, high level of sonication time primary emulsion (2 min) and at high level 1 for secondary emulsion (5 min). The microsphere prepared were almost monodisperse (span less than 0.5) at green to blue region of the plot (one-third of left plot), which occur for all ratio of oil phas at PVA concentration less than 2% w/v. (b) Three-dimensional response surface plot (left) with its corresponding contour plot (right) of alpha mangostin microspheres prepared at constant high level | for sonication time of secondary emulsion (5 min) and at low level of PVA concentration (19 w/v). The microspheres obtained were almost monodisperse at green to blue region of the plot (all area), suggesting that monodispersity could probabl be achieved at all ratio of oil and at all level of sonication time of primary emulsion.

Table 5. Predicted and observed responses for the optimized formulation with their individual desirability. ure 4. Microimages of optimized alpha-mangostin microspheres at different resolution: (A) 5000 mag; (B) 17000 mag. ee ee. ae a ed

Figure 6. Thermograms of free alpha-mangostin, unloaded PLGA, loaded and blank microspheres.

Figure 7. Plots showing ICs of (a) free alpha-mangostin and (b) encapsulated alpha-mangostin. AM: alpha-mangostin

FTIR spectra of both blank and loaded microspheres exhibited almost similar pattern; however, the only difference was detected at 1604.6cm™~' suggestive of alpha-mangostin existence. These results indicate that microencapsulation had induced interaction between hydroxyl groups of alpha-mangostin to form hydrogen bonds with PLGA carbonyl groups. In addition, although PVA triple transmission peaks that were observed in the range of 1400- 1500cm™' refer to glycolide and lactide of PLGA polymer, whereas the vibrational stretching of free PLGA carbonyl groups appeared at 1736.4cm~! which shifted to 1748.3 and 1747.6cm~' the spectra of blank and loaded microspheres, respectively (Liu et al., 2004; Xu and Czermuska, 2008). The

Table 3. Model adequacy validation using check points analysis for encapsulation efficiency (Y;). predictive model (Ricci et al., 2006; Nasr et al., 2011). With respect to EE (Yj), a good agreement between the experimental and predicted values was observed as shown in Table 3. It is clear that the calculated biases for all experiments were less than 10%, which implies that the EE model (Equation 4) was valid and reliable. Similarly, the experimental values for PS were extremely close to the corresponding predicted values (bias <10%; Table 4). Hence, both mathematical models for EE (Equation 4) and PS (Equation 5) could be employed for optimization of microencap- sulation of alpha-mangostin.

Table 4. Model adequacy validation using check points analysis for particle size (Y2) and polydispersity index (Y3).

Results were analysed using paired ¢-test to compare significant difference between the ICso. Free alpha-mangostin did not exhibit 7, phase but instea a melting point peak at 181.4°C. Table 6. Glass transition temperature(7,), in vitro release and cytotoxicity results.

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Spray drying of shark liver oil pool: Effects on physical-chemical properties and antioxidant capacity

by Journal Pharmacy Pharmacognosy Res JPPRes

2018, Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacognosy Research

Context: Spray-drying is a technique used to produce encapsulated products, thus improving the stability of components as well as their organoleptic characteristics. Aims: To evaluate the effect of microencapsulation of shark liver oil... more

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Aceite de hígado de tiburón microencapsulado: Desarrollo de una formulación de cápsulas duras [Microencapsulated shark liver oil: Development of hard capsule formulation]

by Journal Pharmacy Pharmacognosy Res JPPRes

2021, Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacognosy Research

Context: The recognized properties of shark liver oil support its use as a raw material, of natural origin, in pharmaceutical formulations. Aims: To develop a formulation of hard capsules containing microencapsulated shark liver oil, by... more

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Microencapsulation of alpha-mangostin into PLGA microspheres and optimization using response surface methodology intended for pulmonary delivery

by Farah Mohamed

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Nano and Microencapsulation

Key research themes

1. How can microencapsulation techniques be optimized for protecting and delivering functional compounds in food and pharmaceutical matrices?

2. What novel materials and fabrication approaches enhance the mechanical stability and functional versatility of micro- and nanocapsules?

3. How can micro- and nanoencapsulation technologies be leveraged to improve delivery and efficacy of pharmaceuticals and bioactives?

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All papers in Nano and Microencapsulation