Production of fungistatic porous structures of cellulose acetate loaded with quercetin, using supercritical CO2

Abstract In this work, supercritical phase inversion was used to produce membranes of cellulose acetate, loaded with a highly hydrophobic drug, quercetin, with antifungal properties. Changing process parameters, such as polymer concentration (5, 10 and 15% w/w), pressure (100 and 200 bar) and temperature (45 and 50 °C), different membrane morphologies and pores size were obtained. Operating in this way, it was possible to control quercetin release: the existence of macrovoids (i.e., finger-like structure) promoted a faster drug release (about 200 min); whereas, cellular structures favored a prolonged drug release (up to 1400 min). These membranes were tested against two types of fungi (Kluyveromyces lactis and Yarrowia lipolitica), obtaining an efficient and prolonged antifungal effect, overcoming the problems of quercetin hydrophobicity.