Effect of sorbitol on interaction of phenolic preservatives with polysorbate 80

The effect of sorbital on the binding of several commonly used phenolic preservatives (i.e., p-hydroxybenzoic acid, methylparaben, ethylparaben, and propylparaben) with the nonionic surfactant polysorbate 80 was investigated using an equilibrium dialysis technique. The binding data were expressed in the form of Scatchard plots utilizing a modified form of the Scatchard equation. The data analysis indicated that all four phenolic preservatives were bound to two distinct loci within the polysorbate micelle; one exhibited a high affinity and a low capacity for the preservative molecules, while the other appeared to have a near-zero affinity but an almost infinite binding capacity. The high affinity site was assumed to be located near the junction of the hydrocarbon core with the polyoxyethylene region of the micelle. The interaction of the preservatives with the second class of sites apparently involved a non-specific and nonsaturable partitioning of the preservative molecules into the polyoxyethylene region of the micelle. Sorbitol was ineffective in displacing significant amounts of bound preservative from either binding site, presumably because it was too polar to partition into the micelle sufficiently to displace bound preservative.