Astaxanthin-Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers for Preservation of Antioxidant Activity

• Main Authors: Violeta Rodriguez-Ruiz, José Ángel Salatti-Dorado, Abolfazl Barzegari, Alba Nicolas-Boluda, Amel Houaoui, Carmen Caballo, Noelia Caballero-Casero, Dolores Sicilia, Jorge Bastias Venegas, Emmanuel Pauthe, Yadollah Omidi, Didier Letourneur, Soledad Rubio, Virginie Gueguen, Graciela Pavon-Djavid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-10-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: astaxanthin; nanostructured lipid carriers; antioxidants; Haematoccocus pluvialis; α-TEAC; lipophilic ABTS assay
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/23/10/2601

Astaxanthin is a xanthophyll carotenoid showing efficient scavenging ability and represents an interesting candidate in the development of new therapies for preventing and treating oxidative stress-related pathologies. However, its high lipophilicity and thermolability often limits its antioxidant efficacy in human applications. Here, we developed a formulation of lipid carriers to protect astaxanthin’s antioxidant activity. The synthesis of natural astaxanthin-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers using a green process with sunflower oil as liquid lipid is presented. Their antioxidant activity was measured by α-Tocopherol Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity assay and was compared to those of both natural astaxanthin and α-tocopherol. Characterizations by dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy, and scattering electron microscopy techniques were carried out and showed spherical and surface negative charged particles with z-average and polydispersity values of ~60 nm and ~0.3, respectively. Astaxanthin loading was also investigated showing an astaxanthin recovery of more than 90% after synthesis of nanostructured lipid carriers. These results demonstrate the capability of the formulation to stabilize astaxanthin molecule and preserve and enhance the antioxidant activity.