Protective effect of grape extract phospholipid vesicles against oxidative stress skin damages

•Grape pomaces were used to obtain an extract rich in polyphenols.•The extraction was performed homogenizing the biomass in an ethanol/water mixture.•The extract was incorporated in liposomes and innovative modified vesicles (PEVs).•The extract-loaded vesicles protected keratinocytes and fibroblasts against H2O2 damage.

Grape extract rich in polyphenols (∼129 ± 32 mg of gallic acid equivalents per g of dry extract) was obtained from the pomaces of Cannonau grapes by homogenization in an ethanol/water mixture. The efficacy of ultrasounds in speeding up the extraction kinetics of polyphenols was demonstrated. The extract was incorporated in liposomes and PEVs (penetration enhancer containing vesicles) with Labrasol® or Labrasol®/ethanol. All the vesicles were spherical and predominantly unilamellar: liposomes were large (∼927 nm) and polydispersed (PI ∼0.56), while PEVs were small (∼140 nm) and fairly homogeneous (PI ∼0.3). Moreover, PEVs were able to incorporate a high amount of the extract (∼98% of the extract used for their preparation, 50 mg/ml). The formulations were highly cytocompatible and were able to promote the proliferation of keratinocytes and fibroblasts. In addition, thanks to their antioxidant activity, grape extract formulations provided a cytoprotective effect against oxidative stress damage.Therefore, an efficient, environmentally-friendly extraction strategy is proposed to obtain an extract with high phenolic content from waste grape pomaces, which was incorporated in vesicular systems to maximize the antioxidant power in a cell model of oxidative stress.

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