LAUSR

Encapsulation of plumbagin using cyclodextrins (CDs), including α-cyclodextrin (αCD), β-cyclodextrin (βCD), and γ-cyclodextrin (γCD) to form inclusion complexes was investigated to prevent the loss of plumbagin in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products. Computational simulations and phase solubility studies suggest that the complex formations of plumbagin with CDs are possible. βCD is chosen, as it has the lowest price and can form the complex in a wide concentration range with 1:1 host–guest molar ratio. Two techniques of the complex formation, co-precipitation and freeze-drying, were evaluated for both pure plumbagin and extracted plumbagin from Plumbago indica root to represent lab-scale and industrial-scale productions, respectively. The complexes from these two techniques can prevent the loss of plumbagin up to three-folds better than plumbagin in free form. The preservation by encapsulation can increase the remaining plumbagin from 22.68 to 60.26% after exposure at 50 °C for 6 weeks.