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Updated: Oct 14, 2025

Self-Nanoemulsification of Healthy Oils to Enhance the Solubility of Lipophilic Drugs
Published on: July 27, 2022
Improved stability and aqueous solubility of β-carotene via encapsulation in self-assembled bioactive oleanolic acid
Shiqi Liu1, Jing Zhang1, Rao Fu1
1College of Biological Science and Technology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Forest Food Processing and Safety, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
Abstract:
Poor water solubility and stability of β-carotene (Car) greatly hinder its application in foods. Herein, naturally occurring bioactive oleanolic acid (OA) was used as a nanocarrier to overcome these shortcomings by fabricating Car-loaded OA nanoparticles (Car/OA NPs). Through optimization, the encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity reached 80.7% and 32.6%, respectively. Systematic characterization suggested that Car was successfully encapsulated, and hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions are the main forces facilitating the self-assembly and encapsulation. Compared with free Car, Car/OA NPs exhibited significantly improved water dispersibility and enhanced stability against UV radiation, heat, ionic strength, and acidic conditions. Further, Car/OA NPs provided gastric protection, delayed-release in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and controlled release in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). Additionally, both OA NPs and Car/OA NPs showed markedly inherent hepatoprotective effects. This work demonstrates that OA NPs can be used as inherent bioactive nanocarriers to deliver hydrophobic nutrients and bioactive food components.
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