Electrospray technique for cocrystallization of phytomolecules

Abstract

Poor aqueous solubility of most of the phytomolecules has restricted their vital biological use. Cocrystal approach can be one of the remedies for the problem. The present work was carried out with an objective to screen the potential of electrospray technique towards cocrystallization of quercetin (QUE). QUE was cocrystallized with caffeine (CAF) and nicotinamide (NIC) as coformers. Saturated methanolic solutions of QUE with either of the coformers (CAF and NIC) in 1:1 ratio were electrosprayed at 40 °C. The technique was successfully used for cocrystallization of QUE with CAF and NIC separately as revealed by Powder X-ray Diffraction, Differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies. Additionally, the results of saturation solubility study suggested 14 and 11 folds increase in solubility of QUE upon its cocrystallization with CAF and NIC respectively. Herein we propose a new technique for cocrystallization and in turn resolving solubility issues of phytomolecules which can be an alternative to the existing cocrystallisation techniques