**5. Conclusions**

Sustainable and renewable starch-based cryogels have been synthesized from enzymatically modified starch from pea pods, combined with conventional lyophilization. The nature of the functional groups derived from the oxidation reaction seems to play a crucial role in a ffecting the final behavior and properties of the synthesized materials. This work highlights the role of NMR spectroscopy as an analytical tool for material characterization and determination of the drug release profile of cryogels, allowing at the same time, to follow the material degradation process. The ability of the prepared cryogels to act as drug carriers might be useful in designing novel bio-inspired materials with promising application for wound healing and for specific administration routes in the pharmacological field. In the future, antimicrobial e ffects will be investigated to improve the performance of cryogels and to open the scenario on novel applications.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online: Figure S1. Experimental scheme illustrating the procedure for sorption/desorption of ca ffeine. Figure S2. 1H spectrum of ca ffeine with resonance assignment. Figure S3. 13C NMR spectrum of oxidized PS (sample C), recorded at 298 K, in D2O. Figure S4. TOCSY spectrum of oxidized PS (sample C), recorded at 298 K, in D2O. Table S1. Peculiar chemical shifts for 1H species of modified PS.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, A.C.B.; methodology, A.C.B.; characterization, A.C.B., G.S., I.S., and L.C.; writing—original draft preparation, A.C.B. and L.C.; investigation, data analysis, writing—review and editing, A.C.B., G.S., and L.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Acknowledgments:** Authors are grateful to Alberto Giacometti Schieroni for technical support.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
