International Science Community Association Research Journal of Chemical Sciences 2231-606X 7 12 2017 12 18 Microencapsulation and characterization of astaxanthin prepared using different agents 1 10 EN Suganya V. 1 PG and Research Department of Biochemistry, Mohamed Sathak College of Arts & Science, Sholinganallur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India Anuradha V. 2 PG and Research Department of Biochemistry, Mohamed Sathak College of Arts & Science, Sholinganallur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India Ali M. Syed 3 PG and Research Department of Biochemistry, Mohamed Sathak College of Arts & Science, Sholinganallur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India Sangeetha P. 4 PG and Research Department of Biochemistry, Mohamed Sathak College of Arts & Science, Sholinganallur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India Bhuvana P. 5 PG and Research Department of Biochemistry, Mohamed Sathak College of Arts & Science, Sholinganallur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India > Research Paper 2017 10 20 2017 12 18 The present study was implemented to check the best methods for encapsulation of astaxanthin and characterized. Astaxanthin is present in microalgae, yeast, salmon, crayfish, shrimp, crustaceans etc. It has wide application as an animal feed, food colorant and dietary supplement for human to cure many diseases. Encapsulated astaxanthin was prepared using sodium alginate, chitosan, TPP and liposomes as various encapsulating agents. The encapsulated Astaxanthin prepared using different methods were analysed for Morphological changes, percentage yield, drug content, entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release. SEM view of encapsulated astaxanthin was predicted in which all the encapsulated beads formed showed minimum size of 1.522 to 15.21 µm. FT-IR analysis showed the presence of aldehyde, ketone, amines related to both chemicals used and astaxanthin. The percentage yield of ME 1, ME 2, ME 3 and ME 4 was founded to be 87.67±0.577%, 87.00±1.000%, 90.67±0.577% and 93.67±2.08% respectively. From drug content estimation it is established that maximum drug content was achieved by ME 4 (91.33 ± 1.528%) and minimum by ME 2(74.00±1.000%). In vitro drug release was performed in both Stimulated gastric fluid and Stimulated intestinal fluid. Both showed better results. Astaxanthin encapsulated microspheres were prepared by different methods. The encapsulated astaxanthin was analyzed for size, morphology and drug release behavior was studied. Thus astaxanthin loaded microspheres can be used in novel drug delivery systems. Copyright@ International Science Community Association