Release of albumin from chitosan-coated pectin beads in vitro

The release behavior of albumin from chitosan-coated pectin beads in vitro was investigated. The factors, such as concentration of CaCl2, molecular weight of chitosan, pH of chitosan solution, and pH of release medium, which can have a significant effect on the release behavior from the beads, were discussed in this study. The loading efficiency (LE) of albumin showed maximum value when the concentration of CaCl2 and the weight ratio of pectin to albumin were 2 wt.% and 2, respectively. The release of albumin from pectin beads could be retarded by coating with chitosan at various pH medium. The increase of the concentration of CaCl2 induced the decrease of albumin release for uncoated-pectin beads, but not much difference of release for coated-pectin ones. The higher molecular weight of chitosan showed less albumin release than the lower one. The release of albumin from the chitosan-coated pectin beads was dependent on pH of coating solution and release medium, which might affect the degree of swelling of pectin beads. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.