The Quality of Emulsions with New Synthetized Lipids Stabilized by Xanthan Gum

Trends in biopolymer science applied to cosmetics

The term biopolymer refers to materials obtained by chemically modifying natural biological substances or producing them through biotechnological processes. They are biodegradable, biocompatible and non-toxic. Due to these advantages, biopolymers have wide applications in conventional cosmetics and new trends and have emerged as essential ingredients that function as rheological modifiers, emulsifiers, film-formers, moisturizers, hydrators, antimicrobials and, more recently, materials with metabolic activity on skin. Developing approaches that exploit these features is a challenge for formulating skin, hair and oral care products and dermatological formulations. This article presents an overview of the use of the principal biopolymers used in cosmetic formulations and describes their sources, recently derived structures, novel applications and safety aspects of the use of these molecules.

Topical Formulations Based on Ursolic Acid-Loaded Nanoemulgel with Potential Application in Psoriasis Treatment

Psoriasis is a chronic disorder that causes a rash with itchy, scaly patches. It affects nearly 2-5% of the worldwide population and has a negative effect on patient quality of life. A variety of therapeutic approaches, e.g., glucocorticoid topical therapy, have shown limited efficacy with systemic adverse reactions. Therefore, novel therapeutic agents and physicochemical formulations are in constant need and should be obtained and tested in terms of effectiveness and minimization of side effects. For that reason, the aim of our study was to design and obtain various hybrid systems, nanoemulgel-macroemulsion and nanoemulgel-oleogel (bigel), as vehicles for ursolic acid (UA) and to verify their potential as topical formulations used in psoriasis treatment. Obtained topical formulations were characterized by conducting morphological, rheological, texture, and stability analysis. To determine the safety and effectiveness of the prepared ursolic acid carriers, in vitro studies on human keratinocyte cell-like HaCaT cells were performed with cytotoxicity analysis for individual components and each formulation. Moreover, a kinetic study of ursolic acid release from the obtained systems was conducted. All of the studied UA-loaded systems were well tolerated by keratinocyte cells and had suitable pH values and stability over time. The obtained formulations exhibit an apparent viscosity, ensuring the appropriate time of contact with the skin, ease of spreading, soft consistency, and adherence to the skin, which was confirmed by texture tests. The release of ursolic acid from each of the formulations is followed by a slow, controlled release according to the Korsmeyer-Peppas and Higuchi models. The elaborated systems could be considered suitable vehicles to deliver triterpene to psoriatic skin.

Rheological Characterization and Quality of Emulsions Based on Fats Produced during the Reaction Catalyzed by Immobilized Lipase from Rhizomucor Miehei

It has been shown that structured lipids, formed in the process of enzymatic modification of natural hard fat with walnut oil, are capable of stabilizing emulsion systems without the need to add additional emulsifiers. This is especially true for emulsions containing fat formed during enzymatic modification when the amount of added water to the reaction catalyst was in the range of 12–16 wt%. Physicochemical evaluations, i.e., the average particle size, its growth, distribution, and dispersity coefficient, were comparable with the reference emulsion where the emulsifier was lecithin, well-known for its emulsifying properties. Microstructure studies also confirmed the above observations. Rheological studies performed on a set of emulsions containing structured lipids of variable composition confirmed that interesterified lipid blends can be directly utilized as a fat base in the preparation of stable emulsions. The consistency, thixotropic behavior, long-term shelf life, and thermal stability of these emulsions were found to be comparable to systems stabilized with conventional emulsifiers, i.e., sunflower lecithine. Our approach offers the opportunity for the preparation of stable emulsion systems, free from additional emulsifiers, for the food or cosmetics industry, which is extremely important from the point of view of the preparation of products free from allergens.

A Novel Approach of Bioesters Synthesis through Different Technologies by Highlighting the Lowest Energetic Consumption One

Fatty acids esters have a wide application as bioplasticizers and biolubricants in different industries, obtained mainly in classic batch reactors, through an equilibrium complex reaction, that involves high temperatures, long reaction times, vigorously stirring, and much energy consumption. To overcome these shortcomings, we synthesized a series of fatty acid esters (soybean oil fatty acids being the acid components with various hydroxyl compounds) through novel low energy consumption technologies using a bubble column reactor, a microwave field reactor and for comparison meaning, a classic batch reactor. The obtained bioesters physicochemical properties were similar to one another, a good concordance among their rheological properties was obtained, but the energetic consumption is lower when using the bubble column or the microwave reactors instead of the classical batch reactor.