Cholesterol implications on coconut liposomes encapsulation of beta-carotene and vitamin C

Abstract

The implication of cholesterol on coconut liposomes encapsulation of beta-carotene and vitamin C was investigated through their encapsulation efficiency (EE) and partition coefficient (log P). In sole encapsulation the presence of cholesterol up to 40% showed a decline in beta-carotene's EE while for vitamin C the EE was improved. The presence of cholesterol affects co-encapsulation both vitamin C and beta-carotene. The beta-carotene EE decreases as the cholesterol increases but vitamin C achieves optimum value at 90.05% in 20% cholesterol. The log P value of coconut phospholipids, vitamin C, cholesterol and beta-carotene were 4.8711.2;-1.91; 7.11; and 11.12 respectively. The encapsulation efficiency and partition coefficient reveals that co-encapsulation of Vitamin C and beta-carotene in coconut liposomes is influenced by cholesterol because of their unique molecular lipophilicity.