ELWIRA LASON *, ELZBIETA SIKORA, JAN OGONOWSKI
* Corresponding author
Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Cracow University of Technology, Warszawska Street 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland

Abstract

The aim of this study was to prepare biocompatible nanostructured lipid carriers as a safety and protective formulation for two natural oils received from strawberry and blackcurrant seeds by SFE method. High pressure homogenization (HPH) and ultrasound (US) were evaluated as possible nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) preparation techniques. The physicochemical properties of the oils-loaded NLC were investigated (particle size, polydispersity index, macroscopic and light backscattering analysis, rheological properties). To demonstrate the protecting effect of the NLC against peroxidation the oxidative stress test according to Wheeler was performed. The carriers containing natural oils were successfully prepared using two different methods. The stable formulations of good physicochemical properties were achieved in case of NLC prepared by the US method. The results of oxidative stress test confirmed the protective role of NLC against peroxidation of encapsulated natural oils.

INTRODUCTION

Due to the safety of the composition and the controlled release abilities, lipid nanoparticles are of great interest in the scientific and industrial worlds (1, 2). They have been investigated for many different applications and all the administration routes (3-6).
In the beginning of the 1990s, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) were developed as an alternative colloidal system to the traditional carriers like liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles and emulsions (7). SLN are well-tolerated, show high bioavailability and can be produced on a large scale, but they possess some disadvantages associated with limited drug loading, risk of gelation and expulsion of the actives during storage. These potential problems caused by lipid polymorphism have been minimized by a second generation of lipid nanoparticles, called nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) (1, 8). NLC are innovative systems, composed of a solid lipid and a certain content of an oil (a liquid lipid), which show an improved encapsulation efficiency (9), an increased stability during storage and protection of loaded actives against degradation (10). The most ...