The sun is the source of energy for living things on Earth. It emits electromagnetic radiation of various wavelengths including infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is divided into three regions: UVA, UVB, and UVC. UVA region (320-400 nm) penetrates deep into the skin through the epidermis and dermis, which are responsible for skin darkening, photoaging, and DNA damage. UVB region (280-320 nm) acts mainly on the epidermis, which is the major cause of sunburn and skin cancer. The UVC region (200-280 nm) is less hazardous because the radiation is filtered by the stratospheric ozone layer. 1,2 Excessive exposure to UVR has harmful effects on human skin which potentially causes skin damage. Therefore, photoprotection from both UVA and UVB radiation is more of a concern for the development of sunscreen.Sunscreen plays a critical role in reducing the incidence of UVinduced skin problems with its ability to absorb, scatter, and reflect the harmful radiation, thus creating a chemical barrier on the skin that avoids skin damage caused by UVR. 3 The common ingredients in current sunscreen include organic compounds such as benzophenones, avobenzone, and p-aminobenzoic acid derivatives; inorganic compounds such as zinc oxide, magnesium oxide, titanium dioxide, and kaolin. 4 The long-term use of sunscreen consisting of these ingredients has been reported to cause negative health effects such as dermatitis, phototoxic, photoallergic, photogenotoxicity, and systemic toxicity. [5][6][7] Some studies also reported the negative environmental effect of chemical ingredients in sunscreen such as the damage to coral reefs that leads to ecosystem disruption. 8 Therefore, it is important to develop an effective sunscreen with minimum side effects.

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The present study deals with the optimization of phospholipid liposome formulations to mimic red blood cells. Optimization of different concentrations of distearylphosphatidylcholine, dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylserine at a fixed concentration of lecithin and Tween® 80 was done using response surface methodology. The optimized formulation produced liposomes with a particle size in the range of 112–196 nm. The optimized formulation shows low encapsulation efficiency at low levels of insulin but increases at higher loading levels. Formulated vesicles fulfill the size requirement for intravenous drug delivery. The present system is environmentally friendly with respect to biodegradability and biocompatibility.

PurposeRed palm oil contains both tocopherol (∼30%) and tocotrienol (∼70%) with the latter having better antioxidant potency than the former by a factor of 60 times. The microemulsion is one of the most suitable carriers to protect this vitamin E from environmental stress due to food processing and storage. However, the instability of microemulsion might limit the presentation of vitamin E in the food industry. In the present study, we demonstrated the preparation of microemulsions from different ratios of palm oil and Span 60 to achieve potential carrier formulations for vitamin E delivery.Design/methodology/approachThe microemulsions with the different ratios of palm oil and water (o/w) and Span 60 were prepared by using homogenization technique, incubated and observed at 45.0 ± 0.1 °C, room temperature (25 °C ± 0.1) or 8.0 ± 0.1 °C. The microemulsion formed was analyzed by Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to observe the molecular composition and the functional groups in the employed oil and emulsifier. Back-scattered dynamic light scattering (DLS) method was employed to determine the stability of microemulsion by measuring the average particle size and polydispersity index (PDI). The zeta potential values of microemulsion were measured by Shape Zeta sizer Nano ZS. The shape and dynamic properties of the microemulsion were observed by Leica optical polarizing microscope (OPM). The creaming, sedimentation, the ratio of aqueous separation and clarification of the microemulsions were evaluated visually whereas the changes in pH were determined using pH meter.FindingsThe morphological study showed the presence of spherical-shaped particles. The average particle size was found to be the smallest in the presence of 7% Span 60 in the 70/30 (o/w) formulation, and the zeta potential was less than −30 mV for most of the formulations. The most stable pH (the least amount of changes in the pH at room temperature) prevailed for 7% Span 60. Accelerated stability test showed that formulations 30:70 and 50:50 (o/w), in the presence of 5% and 7% Span 60, were the most stable throughout the incubation period.Originality/valueThe palm oil in water microemulsion in the presence of 7% Span 60 has the potential to be further developed as a delivery system for hydrophobic nutrients such as vitamin E, proteins or peptides and antioxidants in the food and beverage industry.

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