Development and physicochemical properties of extract of Morinda citrifolia Linn/pectin-based membranes Josepha Yohanna de Jesus 1 • Eliane Santos de Carvalho Dantas 1 • Mairim Russo Serafini 1 • Paula dos Passos Menezes 1 • Juliana Cordeiro Cardoso 2 • Ricardo Luiz Cavalcanti Albuquerque-Jr 2 • Jivaldo do Rosa ´rio Matos 3 • Juliana Ferreira de Oliveira 3 • Irwin Rose Alencar de Menezes 4 • Francilene Amaral da Silva 1 • Adriano Antunes de Souza Arau ´jo 1 Received: 14 November 2014 / Accepted: 18 July 2015 Ó Akade ´miai Kiado ´, Budapest, Hungary 2015 Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical properties and kinetic analyses of mem- branes obtained through the dispersion of pectin PEC (2 %), with or without the extract of Morinda citrifolia Linn EMC2.5 and 5.0 % in distilled water, and adding plasticizer propylene glycol (20 %). The thickness of the membranes was significantly different, and at SEM images of PEC2.5 %, they showed a more compact structure compared with other membranes. PEC5.0 % membrane showed the best values of mechanical properties. The DSC curve of EMC showed two endothermic events, and the DSC curves of the membranes presented two endothermic events and two exothermic events with profiles similar to PEC, PEC2.5 and PEC5.0 % membranes. A kinetic study was performed with thermogravimetry using the Ozawa method and non-Arrhenius methods. The kinetic parame- ters showed that the PEC and PEC5.0 % present a similar thermal stability. Thus, the Morinda citrifolia extract influences a more organized membrane structure, and the PEC-EMC2.5 % has the best characteristics for the development of a membrane with healing effect. Keywords Membranes  Pectin  Physicochemical properties  Morinda citrifolia Introduction Membranes based on biodegradable materials, such as pro- teins, polysaccharides, lipids or their combination, have been investigated over the last two decades with an ever- increasing research interest due to their potential use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine [1, 2]. Bioac- tive membrane may be designed to take synergistic advan- tages of the pure component features, even though, as with synthetic polymers, the mechanical and barrier properties of composite membranes strongly depend on the constituting polymer characteristics and their compatibility [3, 4]. Structuring biopolymers, such as polysaccharides, proteins and lipids, have been used for the formulation of membranes [5, 6] that are characterized by good mechanical properties, although they are usually quite permeable to water and gases [7, 8]. Pectin is the main component of citrus-processing by- products with profitable properties in many applications [9, 10]. The basic chemical structure of pectin is a linear polymer of D-galacturonic acid whose resides are connected through a-(1,4)-glycosidic bonds [10, 11]. Morinda citrifolia L., popularly known as ‘‘noni,’’ has been used in traditional Polynesian medicine for over 2000 years. Morinda citrifolia (Rubiaceae) is native from Southeast Asia to Australia and is cultivated in Polynesia, India, the Caribbean, central and northern South America [12, 13]. Noni is reported to have a broad range of thera- peutic effects, including antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, & Paula dos Passos Menezes paulamenezes_16@yahoo.com.br 1 Departamento de Farma ´cia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Address: Av. Marechal Rondon, s/n, Cidade Universita ´ria, CEP 49100-000 Sa ˜o Cristo ´va ˜o, Sergipe, Brazil 2 Instituto de Tecnologia e Pesquisa-ITP, Universidade Tiradentes Av. Murilo Dantas, 300, CEP 49032-490 Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil 3 Departamento de Quı ´mica Fundamental, Universidade de Sa ˜o Paulo, Address: Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 748, Sala 0801, Cidade Universita ´ria, Sa ˜o Paulo, Brazil 4 Departamento de Quı ´mica Biolo ´gica, Universidade Regional do Cariri, Address: Rua Cel. Anto ˆnio Luis, 1161, CEP 63.100-000, Crato, Ceara ´, Brazil 123 J Therm Anal Calorim DOI 10.1007/s10973-015-4936-y