Encapsulation of butyrate using low-alkali konjac gel induced by ethanol for colonic delivery

Yousong Ma; Sijia Peng; Ning Tang; Yongqiang Cheng

Encapsulation of butyrate using low-alkali konjac gel induced by ethanol for colonic delivery

2021

Yousong Ma | Sijia Peng | Ning Tang | Yongqiang Cheng

Butyrate administrated in proper concentration is beneficial to the human colon environment. However, the delivery of butyrate to the colon is quite difficult as butyrate could be easily absorbed in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, we developed a low-alkali konjac glucomannan gel system to encapsulate different concentrations (0.4%, 0.66%, 0.87%, and 1.09%) of sodium butyrate to achieve colon targeted delivery. It was found that a high amount (0.87% and 1.09%) of sodium butyrate encapsulation would decrease the hardness of the gels. Furthermore, the gels with 0.87% and 1.09% sodium butyrate encapsulated exhibited a slower sodium butyrate release rate during the digestion and could deliver the sodium butyrate to the colon. In addition, we found that this release followed the Korsmeyer-Peppas release pattern with the release exponent less than 0.5. This result indicated that the release mechanism was governed by diffusion. The present study suggested our developed low-alkali konjac glucomannan gel system could be used for colon targeted delivery.

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