Published in

MDPI, Separations, 5(9), p. 126, 2022

DOI: 10.3390/separations9050126

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Exploration of Fulvic Acid as a Co-Former in Crystal Engineering

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The aim of the project was to investigate Peat-derived Fulvic acid for its propensity to form co-crystals with quercetin and curcumin and characterize it by using different analytical techniques. The formation of co-crystals generally enhances water solubility and the overall bioavailability of molecules. Co-crystals were synthesized using a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio of fulvic acid with quercetin and curcumin, respectively, using solvent crystallization techniques taking tetrahydrofuran and water in a 1:1 v/v ratio. The co-crystals were characterized by spectroscopic methods, FTIR and Differential scanning calorimetry. Further confirmation was made by morphological studies using SEM. A structural analysis was also carried out, using 13C solid-state NMR analysis. The studies confirmed the formation of semi crystalline forms. Furthermore, the saturation solubility displayed the enhancement in solubility of up to 10, 5-folds for Quercetin and Curcumin, respectively. The in vitro dissolution results showed that T50% was achieved within 30 min for both the drugs. The literature supports that the nutraceutical co-crystals offer advantages, particularly in the improvement of biopharmaceutical properties and addressing the challenges of the lab and manufacturing scale process. Both the semi crystalline powders exhibited enhanced solubility and a better dissolution profile.