Calcium-alginate beads loaded with gallic acid: Preparation and characterization

• Electrospray is effective to prepare alginate bead with various sizes.
• FTIR and DSC confirmed that gallic acid was loaded in alginate bead.
• Gallic acid released faster in intestinal fluid than that in gastric fluid.
• Alginate bead is a promising platform to deliver gallic acid.

Electrospray technique was used to prepare alginate beads with controllable size from about 200 μm to 1.3 mm by adjusting the working voltage. The encapsulation ability of alginate beads for gallic acid, a model hydrophilic phenolic compound, was investigated. Loading amount of gallic acid varied from 7 g/100 g–12 g/100 g among alginate beads samples. Fourier-transform infrared and differential scanning calorimetry result confirmed the inclusion of gallic acid. Moreover, no autoxidation of gallic acid was observed in the formulated alginate beads. Release profile result indicated that in simulated intestinal fluid the release was faster than that in gastric fluid. The release pattern was influenced by both loading amount of gallic acid and size of alginate beads. Our results suggest that alginate beads fabricated by electrospray method is a promising delivery system for water soluble phenolic compound like gallic acid.