Tucuma Fat-Based Nanostructured Lipid Carriers: Physical Stability and Antifungal Activity

This study aimed to obtain and characterize NLCs from tucuma fat and evaluate them against fungal cultures. The NLCs were obtained by high-pressure homogenization of tucuma fat and carnauba wax as the oil phase and were evaluated for encapsulation efficiency (EE), drug loading (DL), zeta potential, particle size, and in vitro release kinetics over a 70-day period. Four formulations (NLC₁, NLC₂, NLC₃, and NLC₄) were prepared, showing particle size variation between 109.7 and 241.1 nm, PDI ranging from 0.16 to 0.41, and zeta potential between -12.7 mW and -27.5 mW. Only two of the four formulations were loaded with ketoconazole, presenting encapsulation efficiencies between 43.55% (NLC3) and 80.97% (NLC4), while drug loading values ranged from 2.18% (NLC₃) to 4.03% (NLC₄). After 70 days of storage at 8 and 28 °C, they maintained their physical characteristics (particle size, zeta potential, and PDI). The release kinetics of NLC₃ and NLC4 were explained by the Korsmeyer-Peppas mathematical model. Finally, the antifungal activity of ketoconazole was improved 8-fold in NLC₃ and NLC₄. Finally, tucuma NLCs showed physical stability and biological efficacy.