Preparation and Characterization of Zein and Zein-Chitosan Microspheres with Great Prospective of Application in Controlled Drug Release

Biomaterials applied as carriers for controlled drug delivery offer many advantages over the conventional systems. Among them, the increase of treatment effectiveness and also a significant reduction of toxicity, due to their biodegradability property, are some special features. In this work, microspheres based on the protein Zein (ZN) and ZN associated to the natural polymer Chitosan (CHI) were prepared and characterized. The microspheres of ZN and ZN/CHI were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and thermal analysis, and the morphology was analyzed by SEM images. The results confirmed the incorporation of CHI within the ZN-based microspheres. The morphological analysis showed that the CHI added increased the microspheres porosity when compared to the ZN microspheres. The chemical and physical characterization and the morphological analysis allow inferring that ZN/CHI microspheres are good candidates to act as a carrier for controlled drug release.