Species-Specific Biodegradation of Sporopollenin-Based Microcapsules

Teng Fei Fan, Michael G. Potroz, Ee Lin Tan, Mohammed Shahrudin Ibrahim, Eijiro Miyako, Nam Joon Cho*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sporoderms, the outer layers of plant spores and pollen grains, are some of the most robust biomaterials in nature. In order to evaluate the potential of sporoderms in biomedical applications, we studied the biodegradation in simulated gastrointestinal fluid of sporoderm microcapsules (SDMCs) derived from four different plant species: lycopodium (Lycopodium clavatum L.), camellia (Camellia sinensis L.), cattail (Typha angustifolia L.), and dandelion (Taraxacum officinale L.). Dynamic image particle analysis (DIPA) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) were used to investigate the morphological characteristics of the capsules, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to evaluate their chemical properties. We found that SDMCs undergo bulk degradation in a species-dependent manner, with camellia SDMCs undergoing the most extensive degradation, and dandelion and lycopodium SDMCs being the most robust.

Original languageEnglish
Article number9626
JournalScientific Reports
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 1 2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • General

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