The study reports high polyphenol encapsulation efficiency (87% for leaf and 62.5% for flower extract) and sustained release from the PPAA hydrogel over 96 hours. However, the mechanistic interpretation of the drug release behavior remains oversimplified and lacks kinetic modeling. The authors attribute the sustained release to surface desorption and diffusion phenomena but do not perform any fitting to established release models (e.g., Higuchi, Korsmeyer-Peppas, zero-order, or first-order). This omission limits the ability to evaluate the release mechanism, whether it is Fickian diffusion-controlled, swelling-mediated, or governed by polymer relaxation dynamics.
Given the clinical relevance of dose control in antifibrotic therapy, can the authors clarify:
(1) Why was no kinetic model applied to characterize the release profile?
(2) What is the dominant release mechanism, and how is it affected by hydrogel composition (e.g., 2:1 vs 1:2 pectin/AA ratio)?
Incorporating quantitative modeling of drug release kinetics would significantly improve the rigor and predictive value of this delivery system for future translational applications.