Abstract

Objective: To determine the material properties of chitosan derived from shells of Egeria radiata in the perspective of drug delivery. Methods: Chitosan was extracted from the shells of Egeria radiata by deproteination, demineralization, decolourization and deacetylation processes. The obtained chitosan was characterized by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction spectrometry, X-ray fluorescence and degree of deacetylation. Results: The yield of chitosan from the shells was found to be 48.6%. The Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy spectrum of obtained chitosan showed 12 major peaks between 660.62 and 3 642.57 cm–1 and specifically a band of large intensity at 1 485 cm–1 suggestive of effective deacetylation of chitin to chitosan. The scanning electron microscopy showed a nonhomogeneous particles distribution which became rougher as the magnification increased. The X-ray diffraction spectrometry revealed the presence of aragonite and coesite while the X-ray fluorescence showed heavy presence of calcium with intensity of 0.736 9 equivalent to 72% of total elemental composition. Titanium, lead, arsenic and other toxic elements were absent. The degree of deacetylation was found to be 67.8%. Conclusions: The derived polymer is a chitosan characterized by high calcium content showing that it could be more suitable for formulation of basic and neutral drugs. There is an indication of its suitability for bioadhesive drug delivery and permeation enhancement over a relatively wide pH range and also relatively limited use for sustained drug delivery.

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