Nanotechnology, particularly nanoemulsions (NEs), have gained increasing interest from researchers throughout the years. The small-sized droplet with a high surface area makes NEs important in many industries. In this review article, the components, properties, formation, and applications are summarized. The advantages and disadvantages are also described in this article. The formation of the nanosized emulsion can be divided into two types: high and low energy methods. In high energy methods, high-pressure homogenization, microfluidization, and ultrasonic emulsification are described thoroughly. Spontaneous emulsification, phase inversion temperature (PIT), phase inversion composition (PIC), and the less known D-phase emulsification (DPE) methods are emphasized in low energy methods. The applications of NEs are described in three main areas which are food, cosmetics, and drug delivery.

Purpose – Halal cosmetics area is progressively increasing these days. This bibliometric analysis is intended to systematically evaluate the research to brief researchers about the trend of halal cosmetics field. This paper also discloses the limitations of the studies in the area. Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopted bibliometric and network analysis to evaluate the research area. A total of 82 documents obtained from the Scopus database are extracted and analysed. Findings – The paper reports the type of documents available, the years published, authorship and geographical distribution of the published documents in the halal cosmetics area. From the keyword analysis, it is found that the most used words are halal cosmetics, halal, cosmetics, purchase intention, Malaysia, and Islamic marketing. Research limitations/implications – This bibliometric study is conducted using Scopus database; however, Scopus might possibly omit some publications, thus, authors might not report the missing studies. Halal cosmetics are still in the early years of publications, and only 82 published documents were analysed in the study. Originality/value – There is no study reported on the network analysis and bibliometric study techniques in the area of halal cosmetics.

In this study, the Ficus deltoidea extract loaded nanostructured lipid carrier was prepared by using the melt emulsification homogenization method. Virgin coconut oil is used as liquid lipid, while glyceryl monostearate is the solid lipid. Particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, drug loading and morphology of the obtained nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) were measured. The size of the nanostructured lipid carrier incorporated with Ficus deltoidea (FDNLC) is 158.0 ± 1.3 nm, with a polydispersity index of 0.15 ± 0.02. The zeta potential obtained is −42.3 ± 1.5 mV. The encapsulation efficiency and active ingredient loading capacity for FDNLC is 87.4% ± 1.3% and 8.5% ± 1.2%, respectively. The shape of FDNLC is almost spherical and the stability assessment showed that the obtained formulation is at least stable for 40 days. When compared with the positive controls, which are Trolox and ascorbic acid, FDNLC shows the highest antioxidant value. Cell proliferation activity study indicates that FDNLC is not toxic to cells, and FDNLC could potentially treat damage by ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation.

Triggered by the strong antimicrobial activities of menthol and various fatty acids, eutectic mixtures based on the components are developed, producing new solvents that have possibilities to become a new antibiotic. This study aims to provide an insight into the antimicrobial activities of the new deep eutectic solvents (DESs) developed. Menthol-based DES combined with fatty acids, namely propionic acid, butanoic acid, hexanoic acid, octanoic acid, decanoic acid, and levulinic acid, were successfully obtained and their thermal profile was analyzed. The antimicrobial potential of DES systems was evaluated against both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Owing to the activities of the start-up components, the results are considered promising, and this illustrates the potential of the newly obtained DESs as a new antimicrobial agent in various fields such as food, cosmetics as well as pharmaceutical.

This research aims to provide insights into the biological efficacy of a newly formed hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent (DES). A DES based on menthol was successfully synthesized with fatty acids. The DESs’ properties as enzyme activators were examined against a neat counterpart. The menthol:decanoic acid (1:1) combination showed improved thermal stability, strong catalytic activity, and reusability for up to four subsequent cycles under ideal conditions (pH 7.0, 40 °C for 2 h). The hydrophobic DES replaced hexane in ester synthesis, where RNL@DES5 showed better fatty acid conversion compared to neat RNL. This study demonstrated promising applications of hydrophobic DESs in non-aqueous organic reactions.

Replacement of volatile organic solvents with ionic liquids (ILs) in industrial applications is a concerned matter and a trending approach. ILs became the choice of solvents due to their merits such as low melting points (<100°C) and insignificant vapor pressure. Despite being expansively investigated, ILs have not been intensively reviewed as eco-friendly solvents for the halal industry, which is the concept of this mini review. ILs have been used as surfactants, extractants for the purification of biomolecules, stabilizers for enzymes and in biosensors applications. Regardless of the lack of data on the toxicity of food products with ILs residues, low doses of ILs in in vitro tests did not lead to cell damage. Moreover, several ILs have stabilizing effects on biomolecules such as enzymes and proteins. Thus, new applications of ILs in the halal industry are feasible within the concept of halalan tayyiban (lawful and safe, good, wholesome).

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Fish by-product oil and lemon oil have potential applications as active ingredients in many industries, including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food. However, the physicochemical properties, especially the poor stability, compromised the usage. Generally, nanoemulsions were used as an approach to stabilize the oils. This study employed an ultrasonication method to form oil-in-water nanoemulsion of lemon and fish by-product oils (NE-FLO). The formulation is produced at a fixed amount of 2 wt% fish by-product oil, 8 wt% lemon oil, 10 wt% surfactant, 27.7 wt% co-surfactants and 42 min of ultrasonication time. The size, polydispersity index (PDI) and zeta potential obtained were 44.40 nm, 0.077, and −5.02 mV, respectively. The biological properties, including antioxidant, antibacterial, cell cytotoxicity, and anti-inflammatory, showed outstanding performance. The antioxidant activity is comparable without any significant difference with ascorbic acid as standard and is superior to pure lemon oil. NE-FLO successfully inhibits seven Gram-positive and seven Gram-negative bacterial strains. NE-FLO’s anti-inflammatory activity is 99.72%, comparable to nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) as the standard. At a high concentration of 10,000 µg. mL−1, NE-FLO is non-toxic to normal skin cells. These findings demonstrate that the NE-FLO produced in this study has significant potential for usage in various industries.