European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

MICROENCAPSULATION: A REVIEW

M. Suresh Babu and Arkaan Qamar Abbas*

ABSTRACT

Microencapsulation is the enveloping of core materials like liquid droplets or fine solid particles or sometimes gasses with a polymeric coating material to form microcapsule, having an average diameter as small as 1 μm to several hundred micrometers. For the coating of core materials sometimes fats and waxes are also used. The basic aim of microencapsulation is to protect the core material or API from the surrounding environment or to control its release. There are various methods for preparing microcapsules, but No single microencapsulation process is versatile to all core material candidate or item applications. The methods used are broadly classified into (i) physical methods: (a) physico-chemical (b) physico-mechanical and (ii) chemical methods. They can be evaluated for particle size, shape and surface morphology, bulk density, angle of repose, mass and coating thickness etc. Further, the microcapsules have specific release patterns and mechanisms at the time of use. Microencapsulation technology is of interest to a wide range of industries, including pharmaceutical, food, agriculture, biotechnology, cosmetic, petroleum and other industries with various significant advantages. The concept of packaging microscopic quantities of materials within microspheres dates back to the 1930s and since then it is advancing. A wide range of core materials has been encapsulated including adhesives, agrochemicals, live cells, active enzymes, flavors, fragrances, vitamins, water and pharmaceuticals. In this article brief information about the history, advantages, disadvantages, and applications, methods of preparation, evaluation and recent advances and applications of Microencapsulation technique is mentioned.

Keywords: Angle of repose, API, Bulk density; coating and mass thickness, encapsulate, microcapsule, microspheres; particle size, shape and surface morphology.