Network formation of Moringa oleifera gum by radiation induced crosslinking: Evaluation of drug delivery, network parameters and biomedical properties

The present article is an attempt to explore the potential of the Moringa oleifera gum polysaccharides in network formation with poly(acrylic acid) by radiation induced crosslinking to develop the hydrogel for slow drug delivery applications. Polymers were characterized by Cryo-SEM, AFM and 13C NMR techniques. Furthermore, drug delivery, network formation and some biomedical properties like blood compatibility, antioxidant activity, mucoadhesion and gel strength of the hydrogels were also determined. The release of ciprofloxacin occurred through non-Fickian diffusion mechanism and release profile best fitted in Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetic model. The hydrogels were found to be pH responsive, mucoadhesive non-thrombogenic, non-haemolytic, and antioxidant in nature. The crosslink density (ρ) and the mesh size (ξ) of the polymer network was observed 3.81 × 10−5 mol/cm3 and 38.77 nm respectively in pH 7.4 solution.