Optimasi Proses Nanopresipitasi pada Nanoenkapsulasi Ekstrak Kasar Daun Kakao (Theobroma cacao L.) Menggunakan Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

Cocoa leaves crude extract has the potential to be used as a source of natural antioxidants. To protect the compound from damage during storage, encapsulation is carried out. Nanoprecipitation method is an easy and fast method compared to other methods. A high encapsulation efficiency as a success factor of the nanoprecipitation is influenced by several factors including the concentration of the added extract and gelatin. This research was conducted to obtain the optimal condition of the nanoprecipitation method by optimizing the concentrations of the added extract (300 ppm, 400 ppm, 500 ppm, 600 ppm, and 700 ppm) and gelatin concentrations (1%; 1.25%; 1.5%; 1.75%; and 2%) seen from the encapsulation efficiency parameters using the Central Composite Design (CCD) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) method (p-value < 0.05). Other analyses carried out involved encapsulation efficiency, particle size distribution, and polydispersity index. The RSM analysis showed that the best result was obtained by 509.57 ppm added extract and 1.57% gelatin concentration with an encapsulation efficiency of 78.04%. The optimum nanocapsules have a size of 178.9 nm and homogenous distribution with a polydispersity index less than 1 (0.716 precisely). Meanwhile, the morphological profiles showed round and intact nanocapsules.