Orientador: Lireny Aparecida Guaraldo Gonçalves / Texto em português e inglês / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T10:35:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Conto_LeilaneCostade_D.pdf: 5195999 bytes, checksum: 05ac9b9628d2dacdf94c6fa8c8ba673f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Óleos e gorduras são importantes na alimentação humana como fonte de energia,além de alguns serem considerados essenciais ao funcionamento dos organismos, tais como determinados ácidos graxos polinsaturados ômega-3. O ácido eicosapentaenóico (EPA) e o ácido docosahexaenóico (DHA), provenientes de fontes marinhas, são as principais formas de ingestão direta de ômega-3,porém estes são muito sensíveis à oxidação e apresentam flavors característicos que levam à rejeição por alguns consumidores. Uma alternativa para contornar estes problemas é a microencapsulação. Uma técnica muito difundida para este tipo de produto sensível é a coacervação, no entanto algumas novas técnicas vêm surgindo na busca de solução destas deficiências. A gelificação enzimática pode ser citada como uma nova tecnologia que objetiva reduzir algumas etapas do processo e tempo de produção, se comparado ao processo de coacervação.Neste trabalho buscou-se compreender o comportamento do material de recheio (éster etílico de óleo de peixe), visto que são encontrados poucos estudos referentes às análises da integridade dos materiais de recheio de natureza lipídica quando encapsulados, e dos materiais de parede (principalmente isolado protéico de soja e isolado protéico de soro) quando utilizados para a produção de microcápsulas por gelificação enzimática e por coacervação complexa, avaliando tanto as cargas eletrostáticas do meio pelo seu potencial zeta para a coacervação, quanto na caracterização completa das cápsulas produzidas por gelificação enzimática e coacervação. Entre os materiais de parede estudados, foram utilizados isolado protéico de soro e isolado protéico de soja, sendo que este último na concentração de 10% apresentou formação de microcápsulas com características superiores pela técnica de gelificação enzimática. Quando estudadas mais a fundo as características das microcápsulas produzidas por gelificação enzimática, a ánalise do material encapsulado constatou-se que ocorreu a encapsulação de óleo de milho da segunda emulsão, reduzindo assim a eficiência real de encapsulação, mostrando-se assim uma técnica não eficaz,mesmo se obtendo cápsulas com elevada resistência mecânica. Comparando-se os métodos de degradação destas cápsulas, foi observada a total degradação da parede para a metodologia de degradação ácida, e parcial para a metodologia de degradação enzimática alcalina. Entretanto a melhor metodologia de degradação para se determinar a composição do material encapsulado foi a degradação ácida com determinação direta da composição em ácidos graxos. No estudo estatístico de microcápsulas contendo éster etílico de óleo de peixe produzidas por coacervação complexa utilizando isolado protéico de soja e goma arábica como material de parede obteve-se cápsulas contendo mais de 20 g de EPA + DHA / 100 g microcápsulas, sendo necessária a adição de menos de 0,5 g de microcápsulas em porções de 100 g ou 100 mL de alimentos para este poder ser considerado funcional. Contudo, uma grande variação no processo foi observadalevando a um estudo mais aprofundado do processo de coacervação através do potencial zeta dos materiais de parede e de recheio separadamente e em diferentes misturas, onde foi constatado que o isolado protéico de soja, por possuir variação na sua constituição e baixa solubilidade, dificulta a determinação exata do potencial zeta zero das misturas, sendo a máxima eficiência de encapsulação encontrada quando as misturas de 1,5:1,0 (massa:massa) isolado protéico de soja:Goma arábica e 2,0:1,0 (massa:massa) material de parede:material de recheio em pH 4,0 foram testados / Abstract: Fats and oils are important energy sources in human feeding, and some, such as the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, are considered essential to the functioning of the organisms. Eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids from marine sources are the principal forms used for the direct ingestion of omega-3, but are highly sensitive to oxidation and present characteristic flavors leading to their rejection by some consumers. One alternative to overcome these problems is microencapsulation, and one well known technique for this type of sensitive product is coacervation, although some new techniques are currently appearing which also attempt to overcome these deficiencies.Enzymatic gelation could be cited as a new technology which aims to reduce some of the processing steps and production time when compared to coacervation. This work aimed to understand the behavior of the core material (fish oil ethyl ester),since few studies can be found referring to analyses of the integrity of the core materials of a lipid nature when encapsulated, and of the wall materials (principally soy protein isolate and whey protein isolate), when used in the production of microcapsules by enzymatic gelation and by complex coacervation, evaluating both the electrostatic charges in the medium from their zeta potential for coacervation, and a complete characterization of the resulting capsules produced by both enzymatic gelation and coacervation. Of the wall materials studied, whey protein isolate and soy protein isolate were used, the latter, at a concentration of 10%, producing microcapsules with the best characteristics by the enzymatic gelation technique. However, when the characteristics of the microcapsules produced by enzymatic gelation were studied at greater depth, the analysis of the core material showed that lipid material from another source had been coencapsulated due to the processing conditions, thus reducing the true efficiency of the encapsulation, showing that this technique was not efficient, despite the elevated mechanical resistance of the microcapsules. A comparison of the methods used to degrade the capsules showed total degradation of the wall by the acid degradation methodology, and only partial degradation for the enzymatic alkaline degradation methodology. Thus the best degradation methodology to determine the composition of the encapsulated material was acid degradation with the direct determination of the fatty acid composition. In the statistical study of the production of microcapsules containing fish oil ethyl ester by complex coacervation using soy protein isolate and gum Arabic as the wall materials, capsules were obtained containing more than 20 g EPA + DHA / 100 g of microcapsules, requiring the addition of less than 0.5 g of microcapsules to 100 g or 100 mL portions of foods for the food to be considered functional. However considerable process variation was observed, leading to a study in greater depth of the coacervation process as from the zeta potential of the wall and core materials separately, and in different mixtures. Thus it was shown that the soy protein isolate presented variation in its constitution and low solubility, which made it difficult to determine the exact zero zeta potential of the mixtures, the maximum encapsulation efficiency being found with mixtures of 1.5:1.0 (w:w) soy protein isolate: gum Arabic as the wall material and a ratio of 2.0:1.0 (w:w) for the wall material: core material at pH 4.0 / Doutorado / Tecnologia de Alimentos / Doutora em Tecnologia de Alimentos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In the current work it was developed a technology for the production of probiotic microparticles where three formulations containing Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14 were prepared by external ionic gelation, using sodium alginate as the primary coating material, also adding to the capsule resistant starch (Hi-maize), and chitosan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microcapsules in wet and dry form, analyzing the resistance of microorganisms to the drying process by freeze-drying, storage at room temperature (25° C), cooling (7° C), and freezing (-18° C) for 135 days for the wet microcapsules and 60 days for lyophilized microcapsules, and "in vitro" tolerance when inoculated in solutions of pHs simulating the human gastrointestinal tract, besides the morphology of the microcapsules by optical and electronical microscopy of scanning, as well as the average diameter. After the drying by freeze-drying there was significant logarithmic reduction for all treatments, indicating that for a better viability it is necessary the addition of a cryoprotectant agent. Regarding the viability assessed by the storage time for the wet microcapsules, the room temperature kept for 135 days the viability of the microcapsules, and the addition of prebiotic and chitosan in the capsule and improved significantly the viability. For freezing temperatures and cooling also showed better results for the treatments that contained the composition the addition of prebiotic and chitosan. Analyzing the lyophilized microcapsules, the temperature was more harmful to the viability of the microorganisms, and the temperature of refrigeration and freezing was viable for 60 days for the treatments with addition of prebiotic and chitosan. Regarding to the tests in vitro simulating the gastrointestinal conditions, both wet and lyophilized microcapsules were resistant to acid pH increasing their viability as increasing pH, whereas to the wet microcapsules the number of viable cells for all treatments was 106 log UFC/g, being within the required standards so that benefits occur exercised by the probiotics. In relation to the diameter, the wet microparticles had diameters less than 70.37 μm for both treatments, while lyophilized exhibited larger diameters in function of hydration and swelling. The microparticles developed in this study may be a viable alternative for obtaining a probiotic food product be incorporated into half, to allow a higher survival of the bacteria. / No presente trabalho foi desenvolvida uma tecnologia para a produção de micropartículas probióticas onde três formulações contendo Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14 foram elaboradas por gelificação iônica externa, utilizando alginato de sódio como principal material de revestimento, adicionando-se também à cápsula amido resistente (Hi-maize) e quitosana. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar as microcápsulas na forma úmida e liofilizada, analisando a resistência dos microrganismos ao processo de secagem por liofilização, de estocagem a temperatura ambiente (25° C), de refrigeração (7° C), e de congelamento (-18° C) por 135 dias para as microcápsulas úmidas e 60 dias para as microcápsulas liofilizadas, e a tolerância in vitro quando inoculados em soluções de pHs simulando o trato gastrointestinal humano, além da morfologia das microcápsulas por microscopia ótica e eletrônica de varredura, bem como o diâmetro médio. Após a secagem por liofilização houve redução logarítmica significativa para todos os tratamentos, indicando que para uma melhor viabilidade é necessário à adição de um agente crioprotetor na formulação das microcápsulas. Em relação à viabilidade avaliada pelo tempo de estocagem para as microcápsulas úmidas, a temperatura ambiente manteve durante 135 dias a viabilidade das microcápsulas, sendo que a adição de prebiótico e quitosana na cápsula melhorou positivamente a viabilidade. Para as temperaturas de congelamento e refrigeração também houve melhores resultados para os tratamentos que continham na composição a adição de prebiótico e quitosana. Analisando as microcápsulas liofilizadas, a temperatura ambiente foi a mais nociva para a viabilidade dos microrganismos, e as temperaturas de refrigeração e congelamento foram viáveis por 60 dias para os tratamentos com adição de prebiótico e quitosana. Em relação aos testes in vitro simulando as condições gastrointestinais, tanto as microcápsulas úmidas como as liofilizadas foram resistentes ao pH ácido aumentando sua viabilidade conforme aumento do pH, sendo que para as microcápsulas úmidas o número de células viáveis para todos os tratamentos foi 106 log UFC/g, estando dentro dos padrões exigidos para que ocorram os benefícios exercidos pelos probióticos. Em relação ao diâmetro, as micropartículas úmidas apresentaram diâmetros inferiores a 70,37 μm para ambos os tratamentos, enquanto as liofilizadas apresentaram diâmetros maiores em função da hidratação e intumescimento. As micropartículas desenvolvidas neste estudo podem ser um meio alternativo e viável para a obtenção de um produto probiótico a ser incorporado em alimentos, de modo a permitir uma maior sobrevivência das bactérias.

Mon projet de thèse a été réalisé en partenariat avec l'entreprise BioMérieux, qui produit des milieux de culture à base de gel d'agar coulés dans des boîtes de Pétri à destination du secteur biomédical. Ces gels, remplis d'eau à 95 %, sont susceptibles d'en relâcher par évaporation ou sous l'effet d'une perturbation externe. Le gel se contracte et peut se détacher des parois de la boite lors de la production ou lors de leur incubation. Ma thèse a consisté à identifier les paramètres clefs qui influent sur la contraction de ces milieux de culture aussi bien au niveau de la composition du gel que des propriétés de surface des parois de la boîte de Pétri. Ce travail expérimental m'a permis d'associer un panel de techniques originales comme la rhéologie à force normale contrôlée, une centrifugeuse, l'interférométrie ou encore la méthode flot optique. J'ai ainsi mis à jour les moteurs du détachement du gel des parois des boîtes et identifier des solutions concrètes pour y remédier / My PhD work was carried out in partnership with the company BioMérieux, a leader int he production of agar-based culture media, cast in Petri disches and used in microbioly. Being mainly composed of water (>95 % wt.), agar gels are naturally prone to solvent-loss by evaporation either at rest or under an external perturbation. As a result, the gel shrinks and detaches from the sidewall fo dish. The goal of my PhD work was to identify the key paramters driving the gel detachment, in relation with both the gel chemical composition, as well as the dish surface properties. This expzrimental word has allowed me to use a wide array of thecniques such as normal force controlled rheology, intererometric observations, or optical flow analysis applied to the gel deformation. I succesfully unravelled the driving forces that lead to the gel detachment from the sidewall of the dish and proposed concrete solutions to be implemented on a commercial scale to prevent il.

L'objectif de cette thèse a été de développer une forme galénique pour l'administration locale d'antiseptiques dans le traitement de lésions buccales. De par la présence de la salive et des mécanismes de déglutition et de mastication, le temps de séjour des principes actifs dans la cavité buccale est court ce qui conduit à une faible efficacité thérapeutique locale. Ainsi, l'encapsulation de principes actifs dans des microparticules mucoadhésives à base de pectine a été envisagée. Deux antiseptiques couramment utilisés dans le traitement des lésions buccales ont été retenus : la chlorhexidine (CX) et l'hexétidine (HX). Le procédé utilisé pour l'encapsulation de l'HX consiste en la gélification ionique de pectine contenue dans la phase aqueuse d'une émulsion double L/H/L par l'ajout de Ca2+. L'influence des paramètres de procédé et de formulation sur l'efficacité d'encapsulation de l'actif a été étudiée à l'aide d'un plan d'expériences. Dans le cas de la CX, les essais préliminaires ont mis en évidence des interactions entre l'actif et la pectine conduisant à la gélification du polymère sans utilisation d'ions Ca2+. Des études physicochimiques ont donc été réalisées afin d'investiguer ces interactions et de comparer le mécanisme de gélification observé à celui de la gélification ionique de la pectine par les ions Ca2+. Des mécanismes de gélification similaires ont été observés pour ces deux cations divalents avec de plus fortes interactions entre la pectine et la CX. Puis des microparticules de pectine et CX ont été développées par prilling sans ajout d'ions. L'influence de l'ajout de Zn2+ dans la formulation sur les propriétés des microparticules a finalement été étudiée / The aim of this project was to develop a dosage form for antiseptics local administration in order to treat buccal injuries. Due to the presence of saliva in association with swallowing and chewing, actives substances have a short retention time in the buccal cavity and thus a low therapeutic efficacy. To resolve this problem, the encapsulation of active agents in pectin mucoadhesive microparticles was studied. For this purpose, two widely used antiseptics have been selected: chlorhexidine and hexetidine. Hexetidine encapsulation was obtained by performing calcium-induced ionic gelation of the pectin aqueous solution involved in a double emulsion L/H/L. The influence of both process and formulation parameters on encapsulation efficiency were studied by using an experimental design. In the case of chlorhexidine, preliminary experiments highlighted interactions between the active substance and pectin leading to polymer gelation without the use of additional Ca2+ dications. Hence, pectin/chlorhexidine interactions were investigated by several physico-chemical studies and the corresponding gelation mechanism was compared to that of the well-known pectin ionic gelation induced by Ca2+ ions. Similar binding processes were observed for both divalent ions, though stronger interactions were observed with chlorhexidine. Pectin/chlorhexidine microparticles were then developed by prilling (vibrational jet technique) without additional Ca2+ ions. Finally, the influence of zinc dications addition in the formulation on the microparticle properties (size, encapsulation efficiency, drug release kinetics) was evaluated

La compréhension du lien entre alimentation et santé est un challenge majeur pour les domaines des sciences de l'aliment et de la nutrition. L'effet d'un aliment sur la santé étant conditionné par son passage et sa déstructuration dans le tube digestif, explorer cette question implique donc nécessairement de progresser dans la compréhension du processus de digestion. L'œuf est un produit apprécié dans le monde entier et compte parmi les aliments les plus nutritifs pour l'Homme. La fraction blanc d'œuf, solution aqueuse de protéines, est un ovoproduit très utilisé par l'industrie alimentaire en raison de ses propriétés fonctionnelles et nutritionnelles. De plus, la possibilité de générer des structures d'aliment très différentes selon les modalités du traitement technologique, sans avoir à en modifier la composition, fait du blanc d'œuf un aliment modèle réaliste particulièrement intéressant. Cette étude a été menée dans l'objectif d'étudier l'impact des caractéristiques structurales de matrices protéiques agrégées et gélifiées sur leur déstructuration au cours de la digestion. Un modèle in vitro de digestion gastro-intestinale, permettant un suivi temporel, a été combiné avec un modèle in vivo (porcin), plus proche de la réalité physiologique et permettant un suivi spatio-temporel de la digestion. Dans le cas du blanc d'œuf, la structuration de la matrice protéique s'est avérée avoir une influence non seulement sur les aspects quantitatifs de la digestion comme le degré d'hydrolyse des protéines, mais également sur les aspects qualitatifs comme la nature des peptides libérés. De même in vivo, les niveaux de bioaccessibilité pourraient être impactés par les différences relatives aux caractéristiques structurales des matrices gélifiées. A l'échelle moléculaire, cette étude suggère ainsi que les changements structuraux induits par les traitements thermiques, variables selon les conditions du milieu, rendent accessibles aux enzymes digestives des zones variables des protéines. A l'échelle micro- et macroscopique, les caractéristiques structurales des gels impactent également le déroulement de la digestion. / Understanding the relationship between health and diet is a major challenge in Food Science and Nutrition. As the impact of a food product on health depends on its journey and breakdown in the gastrointestinal tract, exploring this question necessarily implies increasing our knowledge of the food digestion process. Eggs are popular worldwide and are among the most nutritious foods for humans. The egg white fraction, an aqueous protein solution, is an egg product widely used in the food industry because of its unique functional and nutritional properties. In addition, the ability to generate very different food structures depending on the technological process without modifying its composition, makes egg white a very interesting and realistic food model. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of structural characteristics of aggregated and gelled protein matrices on their breakdown during digestion. An in vitro model of gastrointestinal digestion, enabling temporal tracking, was combined with an in vivo model (pig), closer to physiological reality and enabling spatio-temporal mapping of digestion. For egg white, the structural characteristics of the protein matrix were found to have an influence not only on the quantitative aspects of protein digestion such as the degree of hydrolysis, but also on the qualitative aspects such as the nature of the peptides released. Similarly, the in vivo bioaccessibility levels could be impacted by differences relating to the structural characteristics of the gelled matrices. At the molecular scale, this study suggests that the structural changes induced by heat treatments, depending on physicochemical conditions, render a number of protein regions accessible to digestive enzymes. At the micro- and macroscopic scale, the structural characteristics of the gels also impact the digestion process.

The thesis is focused on material development based on hyaluronic acid usable in regenerative medicine, especially for heart tissue regeneration after myocardial infarction. The object of the study is the oxidized form of hyaluronic acid (HA-Ox) and hydroxyphenyl derivative of HA (HA-TA). HA-Ox can be crosslinked with a bifunctional alkoxyamine POA and HA-TA undergoes an enzymatic reaction in the presence of hydrogen peroxide catalysed by horseradish peroxidase leading to gel formation. To describe the materials, chemical and physical properties, gelation kinetics and conditions of crosslinking reactions were studied. Hydrogels were characterized by mechanical and viscoelastic properties, degradability or stability in simulated body fluids. These hydrogels serve as scaffolds for the selected cell type. To promote cell adhesion and viability, an RGD sequence has been bonded to the structure of HA-TA. This resulting material is also compatible with selected applicators. Its viscosity and extrusion force are low enough to allow application with a catheter with a very small internal diameter. The applicability of the material through the supply tube to the hydrogel reservoir of the second SPREADS device showed good homogeneity, cell distribution and viability. Finally, the material was applied in vivo using these devices during a preclinical study.

Silicone release liners are silicone coatings on top of papers or films that are used in the adhesives industry to prevent adhesion before the final use of the adhesive e.g. labels. The process of production of release liners involves the casting of molten polysiloxanes on top of the substrates that crosslink by hydrosilylation reaction forming silicone networks. The quality of the release liner can be assessed by diverse methods usually performed when the coating process has been finished. Rarely an online control of the reaction is possible. Fluorescence spectroscopy was found to be a non-invasive useful method to control the reaction during the whole process by introducing very small concentration of fluorescent molecules in the polymer formulations; those fluorophores are sensitive to environmental changes as the silicone polymer molecules crosslink. In response to that stimulus, the fluorescence intensity varies along the time upon reaction allowing the identification of the gel point and further modifications or molecules rearrangements in a post-curing stage within weeks that are non-observable with conventional quality control methods. It was found that the fluorescent molecules do not require to be attached covalently to the polysiloxanes, thus fluorescence spectroscopy is a simple method to implement for controlling the production of silicone coatings. Moreover, the characterization of several silicone formulations was performed to find the optimal conditions for the production of release liners and to understand the effect of every component in the formulation on the performance of the silicones. The kinetics of the reaction was also studied and even a mechanism for the hydrosilylation reaction was proposed.

In-situ chain extension of polymers used in the formulation of artificial tears and mild gelation are techniques to increase the residence time of eye drops on cornea. In-situ chain extension also helps to control the stability of ophthalmic emulsions both in the bottle and in the tear film. In this work, the interaction of hydrophobically modified guar and tear proteins as a method of polymer chain extension and mild gelation has been evaluated. Guar and its derivatives have been found to be very effective for ophthalmic applications. The ideal guar gelation agent is the one that turns on the gelation upon introduction onto the eye and that gelation chemistry is biocompatible and biodegradable. Controllable gelation is desirable to have relatively low viscosity eye drops for easy application and the drops form weak gels in the eye. One recent strategy to cure dry eye disease is to include emulsions in lubricant eye drops. The idea is to supplement the natural lipid layer on the exterior surface of the tear film. Formulating artificial tear emulsions is relatively complicated and must satisfy conflicting criteria. Emulsion droplets should be stable over the period of their shelf life without creaming or aggregate formation. On the other hand, in the tear film the emulsion droplets must cream fast enough and deposit onto the water/lipid film interface on the exterior surface of the tear film. Thus, the emulsion must be stable but not too stable. Initially, science-based design rules were proposed for the development of future generations of lubricant eye drops. The effect of guar molecular weight and concentration on emulsion stability was evaluated. According to the concentration-molecular weight plot, polymer solutions can be divided into stable and unstable regions. They are defined based on the critical flocculation concentration (CFC) and critical viscosity concentration (C*). Inverted QCM-D has been proposed as a simple and fast method to define the stability of oil in water emulsion systems. This technique is a promising alternative for time consuming conventional creaming experiments. Low molecular weight guar can be optimized to out-perform high molecular weight guars without the complications of formulating eye drops with high molecular weight polymers. Hydroxypropyl guar samples were oxidized and modified with linear alkyl amines to give a series of hydrophobically modified guars (MGuars). Lysozyme and human serum albumin (HSA), natural tear proteins, are able to extend the effective chain length of MGuar through polymer/protein complex formation. Hydrophobic modifications on guar enable efficient interaction with proteins, through their mutual hydrophobic characteristics. The interaction of proteins with various alkyl chain lengths, degrees of substitution and a range of molecular weights were examined. Binding and rheological measurements were employed to evaluate the interactions efficiency. Our results suggest that higher degrees of substitution and longer alkyl chain length give higher viscosity values. Lowering molecular weight allows for higher concentration, while keeping the initial viscosity constant. Higher viscosity was achieved as the chain extension occurred. The influence of hydrophobic modification and molecular weight variation on lubrication behavior of MGuars has also been determined. Hydrophobic modification enhanced the lubrication between hydrophobic surfaces. However, saturation of hydrophobes with protein abolished the lubricity. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

The development of structured macroporous hydrogels are of great interest in many industries due to their high permeabilities, large surface areas and large pore volumes. In drug delivery and wound healing applications, these macropores may theoretically be utilized as large drug reservoirs to deliver anti-inflammatory drugs to a wound site, while simultaneously absorbing exudate and maintaining a hydrated environment in which the wound may heal. However, current methods of generating macroporous structured hydrogels are low-throughput, expensive, and require the use of organic solvents, salts, and other additives that are difficult to remove from the crosslinked hydrogel scaffold. In contrast, the Pressurized Gas eXpanded liquid (PGX) processing technology, patented by the University of Alberta and licensed for all industrial applications by Ceapro Inc., has been shown to generate purified and exfoliated biopolymer scaffolds in a less expensive and more efficient way. Herein, the tunability of the PGX processing method was investigated in depth, varying solvent/anti-solvent ratios, nozzle mixing volume, polymer molecular weight, and polymer concentration to examine the resulting effects on produced polymer morphologies. PGX-processed chitosan and alginate scaffolds were stabilized as bulk hydrogels through post-processing crosslinking methods using anti-solvents, solid-state chemistries, and/or rapid gelation kinetics. The mechanical strength, swelling/degradation kinetics, affinity for protein uptake, and cytotoxicity of these stabilized scaffolds were subsequently examined and compared to hydrogels produced without the use of PGX processing. Furthermore, in situ crosslinking methods were explored, in which alginate and poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) polymers were shown to form stable aerogels during the standard PGX processing method. Finally, the PGX apparatus was reconfigured to enable the impregnation of a model hydrophobic drug into pre-processed polymer scaffolds via circulation of supercritical CO2. The total loading was calculated and the release kinetics from loaded-scaffolds examined. In conclusion, this work outlines a novel method of creating structured macroporous hydrogels from PGX processed biopolymers with the potential to provide improved drug loadings and sustained release profiles. It is expected that this work will provide a basis for a great deal of research into the further stabilization of scaffolds for use in other applications, the investigation of a larger range of bioactive molecules for impregnation and release, and the exploration of PGX hydrogel scaffolds for in vivo wound healing. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)