Co-founder and R&D researcher Cognita Technology Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
This study aimed to develop lipid nanoparticles (LNs), using edible fats, oils, and emulsifiers. LNs were developed by high-pressure homogenization (3 cycles/800bar) with 10% of lipid phase and 90% (w/w) of aqueous phase. Regarding lipids, two systems were developed, the first composed by only fully hydrogenated crambe oil (CR) and the second composed by combining high oleic sunflower oil (HOSO) and CR, at 70:30. For the two systems, two emulsifiers were also evaluated (2%), hydrolyzed soy lecithin (SL) and Tween®80 (T80). Four systems were finally obtained, CR+SL, CR+T80, HOSO/CR+SL, and HOSO/CR+T80. For all systems, the diameter (d.nm), polydispersity (PI) and zeta potential (ZP), were determined. The CR+SL and CR+T80 presented 287 and 363nm, PI of 0.3 and 0.4, and ZP -37 and -23mV. HOSO/CR+SL, and HOSO/CR+T80 showed 244 and 200nm, PI of 0.2 and 0.1, and ZP of -42 and -25mV. NLs developed with solid lipids (CR) presented higher diameters, the incorporation of liquid lipids (HOSO) contributed to diameters reductions, no matter the emulsifier. The same benefit was observed for PI, which was closer to 0 for nanoparticles with HOSO. ZP was most influenced by the emulsifiers, particles with SL showed a higher ZP than those with T80. The effect of HOSO can be possibly related to modifications in the crystalline structure of LNs, since it represents an inclusion of liquid lipids into a highly structured solid system. The combination of HOSO, CR and emulsifiers can be widely explored for food application, according to their sizes, PI and ZP.
