Delivery of ibuprofen by natural macroporous sporopollenin exine capsules extracted from Phoenix dactylifera L.

Sporopollenin macroporous capsules (SMCs) were extracted from date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) spores and coated by a natural polymer composite (chitosan with glutaraldehyde). The polymer coated macroporous capsules SMC@poly were used in the in vitro-controlled delivery of ibuprofen. The materials obtained were characterized through spectral, thermal, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The IBU loading and releasing was studied by investigating the changes in various factors such as pH, temperature, and initial concentration. The results revealed that the loading of IBU increased when the concentration of IBU was decreased, following the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The maximum loading of the IBU was observed at pH6.0 (97.2%, with 50mg/mL). The releasing results indicate that IBU was released faster when the pH was changed from 1.4 to 7.4. In addition, the cytotoxicity of the SMC, SMC@poly, and SMC@poly-IBU were tested against human intestinal Caco-2 cell line using MTT assay, and the results revea'led that all the materials in this study were biocompatible.