preparation and characterization of α-tocopherol-loaded nano-lipid carriers:effect of lipid type and carrier oil content

Nano lipid carriers for encapsulating α-tocopherol (α-tc) were successfully fabricated using the hot homogenization method. the effect of oil content and type of lipid on the physicochemical properties of different formulations were investigated. the results showed that α-tc nanocarriers exhibited a small particle size (259.2-379 nm), narrow polydispersity index (pdi) (0.178-0.432), and high entrapment efficiency (ee) (95.73-99.22%). nanostructured lipid carrier (nlc) of compritol containing 45% corn oil (α-tc-nc45) was selected as the optimum formulation due to its smaller particle size as well as pdi and higher ee. the differential scanning calorimetry (dsc) and x-ray diffractometry (xrd) data revealed a low degree of crystallinity for α-tc-nc45 with two crystal forms of α and ß´. transmission electron microscopy (tem) images also revealed an almost spherical morphology for the particles. the α-tc-nc45 was stable concerning particle size, pdi, and ee during a 3-month storage at both 4 and 25 °c. the results suggested that nanostructured lipid carrier of compritol containing 45% corn oil may be an appropriate delivery system for food and beverage fortification with α-tocopherol.