Dextrin is a glucose-containing saccharide polymer linked by α-(1→4) D-glucose units and is produced by partial
hydrolysis of starch. Hydrolysis can be accomplished by the use of acid, enzymes, or by a combination of both. In
this work, the Bacillus subtilis protease Proleather FG-F catalyzed the transesterification of the soluble
polysaccharide with vinyl acrylate (VA), using anhydrous dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as reaction medium.
Different degrees of substitution (DS, defined as the amount of acrylate groups per 100 glucopyranose residues)
ranging from 11 to 19 % were achieved by controlling the molar ratio of VA to dextrin. Dextrin derivatized with
VA (dextrin-VA) was characterized by gel permeation chromatography. Gels were obtained by free radical
polymerization of aqueous solutions of dextrin-VA with different degrees of substitution and monomer
concentration. Swelling experiments have been performed in order to determine the gel pore sizes. Specific
physical properties, as degradation behaviour were also evaluated. These hydrogels are being developed as scaffold
materials for bioactive molecule and cell delivery, tissue engineering and a variety of other biomedical applications
