FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF SEABUCKTHORN OIL ENTRAPPED NLC

The Seabuckthorn oil (hippophae rhamnoides) is nutraceutical lipophilic drug. The reason for choosing this drug for the study lies in its abundant supply of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), antioxidants, flavonoids, phytosterols, carotenoids, and vitamins C, E, and K. These valuable components offer considerable benefits for treating a wide range of skin conditions. The literature review suggests that the melt-emulsification technique has been used for Seabuckthorn oil entrapped NLC. However, there have been no reports so far on the application of the microemulsion method for creating Seabuckthorn enriched NLCs. Hence an attempt was made to prepare Seabuckthorn oil entrapped NLC by microemulsion method. The aim of present research work was to formulate, evaluate and optimize the topical gel of Seabuckthorn oil enriched NLC. The preformulation studies were conducted on physical characteriscs (colour, odour, consistency), characterization tests (acid value, saponification value, peroxide value and iodine value), UV visible spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy of Seabuckthorn oil. In the current research, the preparation of NLCs involved conducting a screening of excipients, and the composition of these excipients was determined using a pseudoternary phase diagram. The Quality by Design (Qbd) principle was applied during the NLC preparation process, and a 32 factorial design was employed to optimize the formulation.The study aimed to achieve specific characteristics in NLCs, and to do so, the key parameters of total lipid content and Smix concentration were optimized using design expert software and assessed for % Entrapment efficiency, Particle Size, and Polydispersity Index.The optimal combination of 20% total lipid and 25% Smix resulted in NLCs with the minimum size of 308.9 nm, high entrapment efficiency (97.88%) and a narrow polydispersity index (0.320).The obtained optimized NLC formulation was subjected to various evaluations, including physical appearance, % drug loading capacity, viscosity, pH, zeta potential, and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Additionally, a gel version of the selected optimized NLC formulation was developed for topical application. The gel was then assessed for several parameters, including homogeneity, viscosity, pH, percent drug content, spreadability, extrudability and In vitro drug diffusion. From the results it was concluded that the Seabuckthorn oil was successfully loaded in to NLC by microemulsion technique and incorporated in to gel for topical purpose.