Characterisation of biodegradable pectin aerogels and their potential use as drug carriers

•Low ester pectin aerogels were prepared as potential carriers in oral drug delivery.•Diffusion and internal setting methods were used for gel preparation.•The highest specific surface area (593m2/g) was achieved during this research.•The release of two model drugs, theophylline and nicotinic acid, was investigated.•Citrus pectin aerogels provided better release rate for both model drugs. The purpose of this work was to prepare stable citrus (CF) and apple (AF) pectin aerogels for potential pharmaceutical applications. Different shapes of low ester pectin aerogels were prepared by two fundamental methods of ionic cross-linking. Pectins’ spherical and multi-membrane gels were first formed by the diffusion method using 0.2M CaCl2 solution as an ionic cross-linker. The highest specific surface area (593m2/g) that had so far been reported for pectin aerogels was achieved using this method. Monolithic pectin gels were formed by the internal setting method. Pectin gels were further converted into aerogels by supercritical drying using CO2. As surface area/volume is one of the key parameters in controlling drug release, multi-membrane pectin aerogels were further used as drug delivery carriers. Theophylline and nicotinic acid were used as model drugs for the dissolution study. CF aerogels showed more controlled release behaviour than AF pectin aerogels. Moreover a higher release rate (100%) was observed with CF aerogels.