Encapsulation of Active Substances in Natural Polymer Coatings.

Already used in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and agrochemical industries, encapsulation is a strategy used to protect active ingredients from external degradation factors and to control their release kinetics. Various encapsulation techniques have been studied, both to optimise the level of protection with respect to the nature of the aggressor and to favour a release mechanism between diffusion of the active compounds and degradation of the barrier material. Biopolymers are of particular interest as wall materials because of their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and non-toxicity.

Encapsulation in Alginates Hydrogels and Controlled Release: An Overview.

This review aims to gather the current state of the art on the encapsulation methods using alginate as the main polymeric material in order to produce hydrogels ranging from the microscopic to macroscopic sizes. The use of alginates as an encapsulation material is of growing interest, as it is fully bio-based, bio-compatible and bio-degradable. The field of application of alginate encapsulation is also extremely broad, and there is no doubt it will become even broader in the near future considering the societal demand for sustainable materials in technological applications.