Performance of Tween 80 as Surfactant for Chitosan Drug Delivery Film

Optimization of the drug delivery system is based on the need for more efficient and effective drugs to fight disease. The addition of surfactant as an additive in the drug delivery precursor solution can affect the performance of the material, especially on the ability of drug release. In this study, Tween 80 was used as a surfactant to be mixed in a low molecular weight chitosan solution. Several variations of the Tween 80: chitosan ratios, as well as variations in acidity conditions, are used to determine the optimum conditions for drug release. Drug release profile fittings were tested on three kinetic models that were frequently used namely zero order model, Higuchi’s model, and Korsmeyer-Peppa’s model. The results showed that the optimum conditions for release were obtained with the use of a ratio of 7:10 with a release profile resembling Korsmeyer-Peppa’s model

Pengaruh Variasi Konsentrasi Gliserol pada Edible Coating dari Ekstraksi Pektin Limbah Kulit Durian sebagai Pengawet pada Cabai Rawit Merah untuk Memperpanjang Masa Simpan

Durian skin waste is an agricultural waste that has great potential if it is further processed. Durian skin waste itself is abundant in the Gunungpati area, Semarang, which produces agricultural commodities in the form of durian fruit. However, the utilization of agricultural commodities has not been done to the fullest because durian skin is just thrown away so that it accumulates and it leads to a bad smell. Of course, this disturbs the surrounding environment because of the presence of piles of durian skin waste. Previous research proved that durian skin waste has a high pectin content. The high pectin content can be used as an edible coating on red chili peppers. Red chili pepper is an agricultural commodity that can rot easily even during the distribution process so that it affects the selling price of red chili pepper. The purpose of this study was to obtain the right formulation of durian skin pectin edible coating. This research consisted of two steps, namely extraction of pectin from durian skin and coating of red chili using extracted pectin. The results of the study prove that the use of an edible coating that has been prepared can reduce the weight loss that occurs during the shelf life of 15 days, from 39.25% to 16.25%

Skimming and Scanning Techniques to Assist EFL Students in Understanding English Reading Texts

This research aimed to find out whether the skimming and scanning techniques (SST) can improve EFL students’ English reading comprehension in recount texts, especially on identifying the main ideas and detail information, in a senior high school in Meulaboh, Aceh, Indonesia. A number of 32 eleventh grade students participated in this study, and the one group pre-test and post-test design were used. Data collection was from a pre-test and a post-test. In analyzing the data, statistics was used. The results showed that the mean score of the pre-test was 45 and the post-test was 65, with 20 points of improvement. Furthermore, the result of t-test was 4.7, while the critical value of 0.05 significant level was 2.4, with the degree of freedom at 23. Since t-test>t-score, thus SST improved the students’ reading comprehension in this study. Nevertheless, the paper further discusses some setbacks while implementing SST in the classroom

EDUKASI DAN PEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT: PENGENALAN PENGOLAHAN LIMBAH KULIT DURIAN MENJADI SABUN PADAT

Limbah kulit durian yang masih mengandung berbagai vitamin, flavonoid, saponin, selulosa, lignin, pati, dan kandungan lain sangat berpotensi untuk di olah menjadi berbagai produk diversifikasi. Kulit durian diketahui mengandung selulosa yang tinggi (50-60%) dan lignin (5%) serta pati (5%). Bagian dengan porsi 60-75% dari keseluruhan buah ini masih belum dimanfaatkan secara maksimal dan hanya dibiarkan menjadi limbah atau dibakar begitu saja. Salah satu produk olahan yang dapat bermanfaat untuk digunakan sehari-hari ataupun menjadi produk yang dapat dijual adalah sabun. Kandungan flavonoid dan saponin yang dimiliki kulit durian merupakan bahan yang biasanya dibutuhkan dalam pembuatan sabun sebagai bahan anti bakteri dan aditif pembuat busa sabun. Dengan adanya vitamin dan bahan organik lain yang terkandung, sabun hasil olahan juga berguna untuk memberikan nutrisi pada kulit. Metode yang digunakan pada produksi sabun adalah metode cold process dimana metode ini memiliki kelebihan, yaitu mudah untuk dilakukan dan dapat membuat sabun dengan ketahanan lama. Berkaitan dengan permasalahan tersebut maka dilakukanlah upaya inovasi kegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat di wilayah Kelurahan Mangunsari, Kecamatan Gunungpati, Kota Semarang yang merupakan salah satu sentra produsen durian di Semarang. Upaya inovasi tersebut diprioritaskan pada: pemberian edukasi kepada masyarakat mengenai pentingnya pengelolaan limbah yang baik dan potensi dari limbah kulit durian, pelatihan keterampilan pada masyarakat mengenai teknologi pembuatan produk sabun berbahan dasar limbah kulit durian menggunakan metode cold process, pembekalan wawasan kewirausahaan terkait produk sabun

Preparasi Komposit Polimer Alami Berbasis Pektin Kulit Jeruk Bali sebagai Edible Coating pada Tomat

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is very susceptible to damage and has a relatively short shelf life. The increased production of tomatoes which are not accompanied by an increase in consumption will cause a large amount of waste. An edible coating (EC) film could increase the durability of tomatoes thus it is needed to improve the quality and shelf life of tomatoes. EC is a thin layer that is safe for consumption and environmentally friendly. In this study, EC was prepared by extracting pectin from pomelo peel combined with one of two ingredients, carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) and tapioca, and using a plasticizer in the form of glycerol. Measurement of weight loss and organoleptic tests (color and texture) of tomatoes were carried out for 14 days. The best results were obtained by pectin 3% (w/w), CMC 1% (w/w) and tapioca 1% (w/w). The EC was able to increase the shelf life of tomatoes up to day 14 with a weight loss of 0.063%, while tomatoes without coating had been tainted on day 6 with a weight loss of 0.387%

Preparation, Characterization, and Release Study of Nanosilica/Chitosan Composite Films

The development of film materials that can control the release of drugs is needed to create a smart drug delivery system. This paper reports the properties and kinetic studies of film models made of chitosan and nanosilica. Nanosilica was directly incorporated into the chitosan solution to modify and enhance the properties of the composites as potential drug carriers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results acknowledge the successful fabrication of chitosan/nanosilica composite films. Wettability tests showed that the inclusion of nanosilica could make the film more hydrophilic by incorporating up to 5 wt%. The effective diffusion coefficients obtained by mathematical modeling were in the range of 10-6 cm2/min. Based on the kinetic studies, the power-law model is the most suitable model to explain the mechanism of drug released from composite films with kK values ranging from 0.3552 to 0.4279, the value of n in the range of 0.3103 to 0.3955, and the value of R2 in the range of 0.9008 to 0.9411. The overall result concludes that these chitosan/nanosilica composite films have great potential to be used as materials for drug carriers