Background: α-Mangostin was extracted with methanol from the rind of mangosteen fruit and purified by using silica gel column chromatography technique. The compound is characterised using infrared, (13)C and (1)H NMR as well as UV-vis spectroscopy. The α-mangostin dispersion in colloidal systems was studied by incorporating it with an ionic microgel, poly (N-Isopropylacrylamide)-co-2VP at different pH.
Result: The DLS result showed the size of microgel-α-mangostin mixture declined from 548 nm to 200 nm upon the increment of the pH. Moreover, it was found the morphology of loaded compound depended largely on the nature of the continuous phase of the microgel system. Interestingly, by manipulating the pH, α-mangostin tends to form crystal at extremely low pH and transforms into spherical shapes at pH 6.
Conclusion: This research shows different structures of the α-mangostin particle that are attributed by adjusting the pH using microgel systems as a template.
Keywords: Dynamic light scattering (DLS); Microgel; Transmission electron microscope (TEM); α-Mangostin.