Nanoemulsions as Optimized Vehicles for Essential Oils

During the last few years, a great interested has been given in for nanotechnology applications in pharmaceutical technology. At the same time, there is a growing research effort in the search for healthier and safer products. In this context, the use of naturally originate raw materials, essential oils for instance, rises as an interesting approach for replacing several synthetic active pharmaceutical ingredients. However, these materials often feature low bioavailability, uncontrolled volatility or low long-term stability, which require novel encapsulation techniques. Therefore, research efforts have been focusing on nanoemulsion technology that is particularly suited to produce novel products. Nanoemulsions constitute one interesting vehicle for enhancing solubility, stability and delivering natural oils, by encapsulating them into nanosized micelles with sizes ranging from 20–200 nm. They gather some unique characteristics as small size, increased surface area and stability which can increase efficiency and biological effects of pharmaceutical dosage forms.