Stability of niosomes with encapsulated vitamin D₃ and ferrous sulfate generated using a novel supercritical carbon dioxide method

Abstract

Niosomes were prepared using a novel supercritical carbon dioxide based method to simultaneously encapsulate ferrous sulfate and vitamin D₃ as hydrophilic and hydrophobic cargo, respectively. Vesicle particle size was determined to be bimodal with peak diameters of 1.44 ± 0.16 μm and 7.21 ± 0.64 μm, with the smaller peak comprising 98.8% of the total niosomal volume. Encapsulation efficiency of ferrous sulfate was 25.1 ± 0.2% and encapsulation efficiency of vitamin D₃ was 95.9 ± 1.47%. Physical stability of the produced niosomes was assessed throughout a storage period of 21 days. Niosomes showed good physical stability at 20 °C, but storage at 4 °C showed an initial burst release, indicating possible rupture of the niosomal membrane. The Korsmeyer–Peppas equation was used to model the release of ferrous sulfate over time at both storage temperatures.

Keywords:

• Iosome
• micronutrient encapsulation
• storage stability
• supercritical CO₂

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Heartland Assays for their assistance with the vitamin D₃ sample analysis.

Declaration of interests

The authors report no declaration of interests. This work was supported in part by the Cornell Center for Materials Research with funding from the NSF MRSEC program (DMR-1120296).