Effect of Starch Sources on the Release Rates of Herbicides Encapsulated

The effects of starch sources on the behaviors of starch matrices and on the rates of herbicides released from the matrices were studied for slow release. The starches considered include native corn starch, wheat starch, potato starch and cassava starch. The matrices were prepared through encapsulating 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic or 2,4,5 trichlorophenoxyacetic acids as model herbicides with hot-gelatinized starch pastes. The encapsulation was evaluated in terms of herbicide content, swellability, encapsulation efficiency, and release rate. The results show that starch sources play an important role on the matrix behaviors and on release rates. The rate of 2,4-D released follows the order： wheat starch 〈 potaot starch 〈 corn starch 〈 cassava starch. And for the rate of 2,4,5-T, this order is nearly the same only with an exception that the late two kinds of starch are similar. It is also demonstrated that herbicides with different water solubility show different release rates, no matter what type of starch is used as the matrices.