Liposomes have been used for several decades for the encapsulation of drugs and bioactives in cosmetics and cosmeceuticals. On the other hand, the use of these phospholipid vesicles in food applications is more recent and is increasing significantly in the last ten years. Although in different stages of technological maturity—in the case of cosmetics, many products are on the market—processes to obtain liposomes suitable for the encapsulation and delivery of bioactives are highly expensive, especially those aiming at scaling up. Among the bioactives proposed for cosmetics and food applications, vitamins are the most frequently used. Despite the differences between the administration routes (oral for food and mainly dermal for cosmetics), some challenges are very similar (e.g., stability, bioactive load, average size, increase in drug bioaccessibility and bioavailability). In the present work, a systematic review of the technological advancements in the nanoencapsulation of vitamins using liposomes and related processes was performed; challenges and future perspectives were also discussed in order to underline the advantages of these drug-loaded biocompatible nanocarriers for cosmetics and food applications.

Liposomes have been used for several decades for the encapsulation of drugs and bioactives in cosmetics and cosmeceuticals. On the other hand, the use of these phospholipid vesicles in food applications is more recent and has been increasing significantly in the last ten years. Although in different stages of technological maturity - in the case of cosmetics, many products are on the market - processes to obtain liposomes suitable for the encapsulation and delivery of bioactives are highly expensive, especially aiming at scaling-up. Among the bioactives proposed for cosmetics and food applications, vitamins are the most frequently used. Despite the differences between the administration routes (oral for food and mainly dermal for cosmetics), some challenges are very similar (e.g., stability, bioactive load, average size, increase of drug bioaccessibility and bioavailability). In the present work, a systematic review of the technological advancements in the nanoencapsulation of vitamins using liposomes and related processes was performed; challenges and future perspectives were also discussed in order to underline the advantages of these drug loaded biocompatible nanocarriers for cosmetics and food applications.

The objective of this study was to obtain and characterise curcumin-loaded proliposomes by the method of coating of micronised sucrose. Proliposomes incorporating curcumin were characterised in terms of coating, morphology, crystallinity, solubility and water sorption. The powders showed a good capacity to preserve curcumin, as after 60 days of storage about 80% of the initial amount of curcumin was preserved. The water adsorption on the proliposomes was very low, as was the hygroscopicity (3.4%). The evaluation of the capacity of the multilamellar liposomes produced by the hydration of phospholipid powders to preserve encapsulated curcumin was assessed. Liposome dispersions were produced with different thickeners, and the best results of average size (around 800 nm) and curcumin preservation (72% after 30 days of storage) were obtained with xanthan gum and guar gum. These results evidenced the coating of micronised sucrose is a promising technique to produce liposomes to be incorporated into food.