Open AccessEffect of chitosan crosslinking on bitterness of artemether using response surface methodology
Author(s) -
Shah Punit P.,
Mashru Rajashree C.,
Thakkar Arti R.,
Badhan Atul C.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of pharmacy and pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 2042-7158
pISSN - 0022-3573
DOI - 10.1211/jpp.60.4.0003
Subject(s) - artemether , differential scanning calorimetry , chitosan , central composite design , response surface methodology , particle size , materials science , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , chromatography , chemical engineering , chemistry , medicine , organic chemistry , plasmodium falciparum , physics , artemisinin , malaria , engineering , immunology , thermodynamics
This work examines the influence of various process parameters on artemether entrapped in crosslinked chitosan microparticles for masking bitterness. A central composite design was used to optimize the experimental conditions for bitterness masking. Critical parameters such as the amounts of artemether, chitosan and crosslinking agent have been studied to evaluate how they affect responses such as incorporation efficiency, particle size and drug release at pH 6.8. The desirability function approach has been used to find the best compromise between the experimental results. The optimized microparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Bitterness score was evaluated by human gustatory sensation test. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the crosslinking of chitosan significantly affects incorporation efficiency, particle size and drug release at pH 6.8. The bitterness score of microparticles was decreased to 0, compared with 3+ for pure artemether. The proposed method completed masked the bitter taste of artemether.