In the present work, a simple method was used to develop composite curcumin-amine functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN). The nanoparticles were used to improve the bioavailability of curcumin in mice through oral administration. We investigated the effect of particle size on the release profile, solubility and oral bioavailability of curcumin in mice, including amine functionalized mesoporous silica micron-sized-particles (MSM) and MSN (100-200 nm). Curcumin loaded within amine functionalized MSN (MSN-A-Cur) had a better release profile and a higher solubility compared to amine MSM (MSM-A-Cur). The bioavailability of MSN-A-Cur and MSM-A-Cur was considerably higher than that of 'free curcumin'. These results indicate promising features of amine functionalized MSN as a carrier to deliver low solubility drugs with improved bioavailability via the oral route.

The amount of sugarcane bagasse in Indonesia is abundant while the utilization is still limited. One of the alternatives f i r bagasse utilization is as pulp material. To minimize the waste from the pulping process, the effect of using a chemical process (with nitric acid) and a biopulping process (using Fusarium solani) were studied and measured by the percentage of a-cellulose content in bagasse pulp. In the chemical process, the nitric acid concentration and the reaction time were varied. llre pulping process was conducted at constant temperature of 102°C and the mixture was agitated at 900 rpm. The highest percentage of a-cellulose content in pulp was 79.28%, obtained at the concentration of 3.5% for a reaction time of 3.5 hours. At higher concentrations and longer cooking times, the a-cellulose decreased due to the cellulose degradation. In the biopulping process, the incubation temperature was kept at 30°C. The highestpercentage of a-cellulose was 65.80% obtained at an incubation time of 25 days. When compared to nitric acid pulping, biopulping is less eflcient. However it has one advantage that it only uses a small amount of chemicals and, therefore, creates less pollutants.