Enhancing nematicidal effect of prodigiosin via micro-encapsulation using chitosan as a novel carrier substance

In this study, Chitosan (CS) was newly found as an effective carrier for micro-encapsulation of Pg by spray drying technique for enhancing its bioactivity. Among various tested polymers, CS was screened as the most suitable substance for creating encapsulated Pg/CS microparticles (E-Pg/CS-MPs) with high recovery yield and good nanoscale properties. CS was further combined with other carbohydrate polymers and used for micro-encapsulation of Pg, however, no enhancing yield or better properties of encapsulated Pg microparticles were found. Further experiments indicated that the size of the spaying needle of 5.5 μm and the Pg concentration used at 0.05