Chitosan-coated nanoliposome as vitamin E carrier.

A new nutraceutical carrier, chitosan-coated nano-size liposome, which is itself bioactive, is made from phosphatidylcholine (pc) and cholesterol by the sonication method. Different factors related to the size of the liposomes such as the ratio of the pc and cholesterol and the time of sonication are investigated. At the 40 : 60 ratios of pc and cholesterol with 12 min sonication, the smallest liposomes, with mean diameter ∼82 nm, were obtained. Incorporation of chemically labile active ingredients into the chitosan-coated liposomes prevented chemical degradation, which is shown for vitamin E (VE). After VE was loaded to the liposomes, the size of chitosan-coated liposomes increased to 144 nm. The loading efficiency and payload of VE were investigated by loading different amounts of VE to the liposomes which were prepared with different ratios of pc and cholesterol. Chitosan-coated nano-coated nano-size liposomes appeared to be promising VE carriers, with highest loading efficiency over 99% and payload over 27%. The stability of VE-loaded liposomes suspension during the 8 weeks storage is over 90% under 4°C.