In Vitro Dissolution Test of Bromelain Isolated from Pineapple Core
Encapsulated in Hydrogel Semi-IPN Methyl Cellulose-Chitosan
Ahmad Aly Irfan
1
, Adinda Azkia
1
, Achmad Buhori
1
, Hegi Adi Prabowo
1
, Elmira Vania
1
, Nathasya
Humaira Adriani
1
, and Siswati Setiasih
1
1
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, Depok 1642, West Java,
Indonesia
Keywords: Bromelain, semi-IPN methyl cellulose-chitosan, encapsulation, dissolution, proteolytic activity
Abstract: One of many sources of bromelain is pineapple core. However, in its application as an enzyme-based oral
drug, its activity can be reduced due to interactions with gastric fluids. The isolated bromelain from the
pineapple core is encapsulated with a hydrogel semi-IPN methyl cellulose-chitosan in order to control its
release and to maintain its activity. Isolation of bromelain was conducted with several stages of
fractionation with ammonium sulfate salt and dialysis. The bromelain in semi-IPN methyl cellulose-
chitosan dissolution capability is evaluated in vitro at artificial gastric fluid pH and artificial intestine
environment. The specific activity of bromelain obtained from several purification steps shows an
increment. The crude enzymes, the ammonium sulfate fraction and the dialysis fractions have specific
activity value of 22.39 U/mg, 76.73 U/mg, and 111.72 U/mg, respectively. Hydrogel semi-IPN methyl
cellulose-chitosan was used for encapsulation which has the value of crosslinking degree of 46.63% and
swelling ratio of 397.59%, respectively. Meanwhile, post loading encapsulation efficiency is 89.47%. The
dissolution test results shows proteolytic activity of bromelain can be maintained up to 2.83 U/mL in
artificial pH environment. The release rate of bromelain is relatively larger in artificial intestinal
environment than artificial gastric fluid.
1 INTRODUCTION
Indonesia occupied third place in ASEAN as an
exporting country of canned pineapple with an
average contribution of 16.42% in 2009-2013
(Respati, 2016). Pineapple core is the solid waste
from pineapple canning industrial process.
Meanwhile, pineapple core is one of many source of
bromelain that can be utilized in the medical
application such as anti-platelet aggregation agents
and other therapeutic effect (Musfiroh et al., 2018,
Manzoor et al., 2016).
Bromelain is a protein-digesting enzyme, thus
the structure can be destabilized due to the pH
change. Destabilization of enzyme structure leads to
decreasing proteolytic activity of bromelain. Based
on studies with milk clotting assay method in
artificial gastric fluid, proteolytic activity of
bromelain was reduced slowly and relatively stable
only in the first 4 hours (Setiasih et al., 2018).
Castell et al. (1997) states that bromelain can be
absorbed in the human intestine without losing its
biological activity. However, in the human digestive
system, before reaching the intestine, oral
consumption of bromelain passes through the
stomach, which has very acidic environment.
Therefore, bromelain needs to be encapsulated in
order to obtain a controlled delivery release of the
bromelain enzyme.
Encapsulation slows down the release of
bromelain, stabilizes bromelain enzyme in gastric
fluid and maintains the proteolytic activity until it
reaches intestine environment. One of the materials
used for encapsulation is semi-interpenetrating
polymer network (semi-IPN) hydrogel. The
dissolution of bromelain was performed in vitro on
artificial gastric fluid (pH 1.2) for 2 hours and in an
artificial intestinal environment (pH 7.4) in the next
10 hours (Farooq et al., 2017).
36
Irfan, A., Azkia, A., Buhori, A., Prabowo, H., Vania, E., Adriani, N. and Setiasih, S.
In Vitro Dissolution Test of Bromelain Isolated from Pineapple Core Encapsulated in Hydrogel Semi-IPN Methyl Cellulose-Chitosan.
DOI: 10.5220/0008357100360042
In Proceedings of BROMO Conference (BROMO 2018), pages 36-42
ISBN: 978-989-758-347-6
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2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved