BIODEGRADABLE STARCH FOAMS AS A DRUG CARRIER

The application of aerogels as drug delivery system was successfully demonstrated for the starch. Biodegradable materials are beneficial as drug carrier as they possess the property of biodegradability. The biodegradability and biocompatibility of these biopolymers make them promising carriers for drug delivery systems. Structural properties of the polysaccharide aerogels depend on the preparation method and chemical nature of the gel phase. In this work starch was used to produce aerogels. Aerogels are a special class of nanoporous materials with growing interest in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications due to their open pore structure and high surface area. Polysaccharide-based aerogels result in highly porous, lightweight drug carriers with high surface area, able to provide enhanced drug bioavailability and drug loading capacity. This review focuses on the of the production of starch based aerogels with emphasis on the influence of processing parameters on the resulting end material properties.