Hydrogels of a natural polysaccharide composed of Gum Arabic (GA) are appropriate materials for drug delivery, since they are water soluble, nontoxic and biocompatible. In this work, the effect of methacrylation on the properties of GA as pH-responsive hydrogel has been evaluated. Modified Gum Arabic (M-GAx), with different degrees of substitution, has been obtained by using different percentages of glycidyl methacrylate (x). It was observed that playing with the x value, gels with different properties have been found: since weak gels to gels with a dual responsive mode. Both gels show non-toxicity against Caco-2 cells. The effects of degree of substitution (DS) and pH on swelling index (SI) were also been studied by using simulated gastric and intestinal fluids through a 22 factorial design. 

Keywords: Gum Arabic; hydrogels; methacrylation; curcumin; drug delivery, excipient

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