Vitamin A palmitate-bearing nanoliposomes: Preparation and characterization

The encapsulation of fat soluble vitamins in nanoliposomes seems to be an effective method for protecting them from light, oxygen and chemical degradation. In this study, nanoliposomes containing vitamin A palmitate were prepared from different concentrations of lecithin–cholesterol (60:0, 50:10, 40:20 and 30:30 mg) by thin-film hydration–sonication method. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) were utilized to study the possible bioactive–lipid complex formation and the results indicated that the complex between vitamin A and liposomes were formed by physical interaction. Particle size, morphology, encapsulation efficiency and physical stability tests were carried out to determine the physicochemical properties of the resulted vitamin A-bearing liposomes. The size of particles were in the range of 76–115 nm and the particle size distributions were monomodular (span=0.6–0.88). The results showed that using the highest cholesterol concentration for preparing of liposomes containing vitamin A palmitate induces lower encapsulation efficiency and 50/10 mg lecithin–cholesterol concentration was used for preparation of optimum formulation of vitamin A palmitate-loaded nanoliposomes with mean size of about 76 nm and monomodular size distribution (span=0.74) and the encapsulation efficiency was 15.8%.