ABSTRACT
Cashew gum (GC) is a polysaccharide whose structural modification has the potential to extend its applications on varied fields such as to the formation of self-organized nanoparticulated systems. In this work, a 23 factorial design was carried out, aiming at evaluation of the influence of the reactional parameters of an acetylation reaction on the final properties of cashew gum. The effects of temperature, reaction time and amount of acetylating agent on the reaction yield and degree of GC acetylation were investigated. Data obtained revealed that the aforementioned parameters influenced both yield and degree of acetylation. Statistical analysis showed that the different derivatives had their variables influenced mainly by temperature and interaction effect between the factors time and quantity of acetylating agent. Acetylated derivatives were obtained with yield higher than 90% and degrees of acetylation above 2.42. Data on the formation of self-organized systems, revealed particle sizes in the range 190-300nm, where smaller particle sizes were obtained for derivatives with acetylation degrees lower than 1.5. Release profiles of Amphotericin-B incorporated in derivative nanoparticles, yielded 70% encapsulation efficiency and long release profiles, corroborating their potential application to delivery of hydrophobic active principles.