TY  - EJOU
AU  - Navarro-Guajardo, Noé 
AU  - García-Carrillo, Edgar Miguel 
AU  - Espinoza-González, Carlos 
AU  - Téllez-Zablah, Rubén 
AU  - Dávila-Hernández, Fátima 
AU  - Romero-García, Jorge 
AU  - Ledezma-Pérez, Antonio 

TI  - Candelilla Wax as Natural Slow-Release Matrix for Fertilizers Encapsulated by Spray Chilling
T2  - Journal of Renewable Materials

PY  - 2018
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
SN  - 2164-6341

AB  - Efforts to improve crop yields with efficient use of fertilizers are needed to guarantee global food security. Enhanced slow-release fertilizer systems (SRFs) encapsulated in biodegradable matrices are being developed to address this global concern. From a wide range of strategies for SRFs development, we explored a nature-inspired solution based on the plant cuticle model and its function as a membrane for water and nutrient transport control. Here, Candelilla wax, extracted from Candelilla wild plants (Euphorbia antisyphilitica), is studied as a renewable slow-release matrix for fertilizers encapsulated by a modified spray chilling process. From this process, microencapsulates containing 40 wt% of phosphorus fertilizer are obtained with distinctive sizes and chemical characteristics, presenting a slow-release behavior. Considering the abovementioned features, novel insights into fertilizer release mechanisms based on plant cuticle models are discussed.
KW  - Candelilla wax
KW  -  encapsulation
KW  -  phosphorus
KW  -  slow-release fertilizers (SRFs)
KW  -  spray chilling

DO  - 10.7569/JRM.2017.634164