Preparation, characterization and evaluation of physicochemical properties of phycocyanin-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers

The aim of this study was to prepare, characterize and evaluate solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers containing phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis. These nanocarriers were prepared through ultrasound-assisted high-shear homogenization method. The results showed that the type and amount of lipid and surfactant had a significant effect on the particle size distribution, polydispersity index and zeta potential. The results of differential scanning calorimetry, fourier transorm infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses indicated no phycocyanin peak in the prepared formulations, showing the effectiveness of nanocarriers systems in phycocyanin encapsulation. The results of the investigations on particles morphology showed that the produced nanoparticles were spherical and uniform and their size ranged from 50 to 80 nm. The nanoparticle encapsulation efficiency varied from 37 to 69%.