| abstract |
A porous aggregate having a high intraaggregate reticular volume for releasable containment of functional substances is described. The porous aggregates comprise discrete particles, preferably starch granules, bound together at least at their points of contact in the aggregates. The surfaces of the discrete particles cooperate to define an intraaggregate reticulate volume. The porous aggregate composition of this invention finds use as a high capacity carrier of functional substances for a wide variety of applications, in which the functional substance is released from the aggregate composition under the influence of mechanical compression/disintegration, by degradation or dissolution of the binder and/or particulate components, or by diffusion from the porous surface. |