Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of green tea extract loaded into nanostructured lipid carriers

In this paper, the preparation and characterization of some novel nanostructured lipid carriers for drug delivery are reported. They are obtained by mixing two solid lipids, cetyl palmitate and glyceryl stearate, with three types of vegetable oils: grape seed oil, St. John's wort oil (Hypericum perforatum oil) and sea buckthorn oil. In order to increase their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, they are co-loaded with green tea extract by using a modified high shear homogenization technique. Size distribution and polydispersity index of the developed nanostructured lipid carriers determined by the dynamic light scattering, and corroborated with the results obtained by the transmission electron microscopy analysis, confirmed that the structures obtained are at nanoscales. The crystallinity behavior of the prepared nanostructured lipid carriers has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry; zeta potential measurements show that all loaded nanostructures present excellent physical stability. Their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties evaluated by an appropriate in vitro analysis using the chemiluminescence method, and the diffusion disc method, respectively, show that green tea extract could be utilized as a valuable natural source of antioxidant and antimicrobial agent. These new nano-formulations proved to have significant potential for nutritional and pharmaceutical applications.