Vacuum foam drying: an alternative to lyophilization for biomolecule preservation.

Vacuum foam drying is evaluated as an alternative for lyophilization for enhanced process and storage stability of bovine serum albumin. The protein protective efficiency of different stabilizers was compared in vacuum foam drying and lyophilization. Sucrose mixtures produced better foam characters than mannitol. Unlike calcium lactate, incorporation of polyvinyl pyrrolidone to sucrose synergistically enhanced the recovery of bovine serum albumin. The conformational stability and bovine serum albumin content further increased with sodium phosphate as compared to potassium phosphate. All sucrose mixtures, except calcium lactate showed large α-helix amide-I band at approximately 1656 cm(-1). The amorphous powder diffraction in case of sodium phosphate monobasic mixture retained maximum bovine serum albumin content. The crystallization of similar mixtures in lyophilization reduced its bovine serum albumin content. Vacuum foam drying showed better processing and storage stability of bovine serum albumin than lyophilization process. Hence vacuum foam drying is short, simple and industrially economical process for biomolecules preservation.