Mathematical and fuzzy modeling of limonene release from amylose nanostructures and evaluation of its release kinetics

The stability and retention of the bioactive-loaded nanocarriers along their pathway through the gastric conditions and their following controlled disassembly within the intestine is very crucial in terms of the nutritional value. The purpose of this study was to encapsulate the orange peel oil containing 92% limonene inside the amylose nanostructures via the combination of mechanical (sonication) and thermal means. Later, the stability and release trend of limonene was analyzed by employing dialysis bags in the simulated media of stomach and intestine. The amylose nanocarriers loaded with limonene demonstrated a high stability against the extra acidic conditions and after 2 h of incubation at 37 degrees C, less than 5% of the encapsulated limonene was released from the nanocarriers. At the first part of the small intestine, a burst release was observed for the entire formulations of the fabricated nanocarriers and subsequently a controlled and retarded release in a 6-h time period from 34 to 79% of the total limonene content was variable between different formulations. Mathematical models of zero order, first order, Higuchi, Peppas, and Weibull along with fuzzy logical intelligent modeling were used to evaluate the release trend. Among the whole mathematical models, the Peppas model had the highest coefficient of determination (R = 0.98) considering the release trend of limonene. The fuzzy logic with the coefficient determination of higher than 0.99 introduced a more comprehensive and a quicker strategy to model the controlled release pattern of limonene-loaded amylose nanocarriers.