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Layered double hydroxide encapsulating Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn flower extract for potential cosmeceutical applications H. Ireshika De Silva*, H. M. Jayani C. Dhanasinghe and S. W. A. Nadun S. Ubeysinghe University of Colombo, Sri Lanka The production of cosmeceutics from natural sources has attracted an increasing interest due to their therapeutic potential. Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn (White lotus) flowers are known to have various therapeutic properties, including antioxidant and antityrosinase activities. Layered double hydroxide (LDH) which is an inorganic layered nanomaterial with two dimensions, has attracted significant interest as a drug carrier owing to its potential benefits such as protecting incorporated plant extract from harsh environment conditions, controlling the release of therapeutic components, the structural and morphological tunability, convenient synthesis, versatility, low toxicity, good biocompatibility and biodegradability, and facilitating drug delivery into the target cell. The focus of this study was to synthesize N. nucifera flower extract incorporated LDH nanohybrid and to study the bioactivities, stability and release behavior of phytochemicals. Pristine Mg-Al LDH was synthesized by mixing 1.0 M magnesium nitrate hexahydrate (50 mL) and 0.5 M aluminium nitrate nonahydrate (50 mL) in a 2:1 ratio followed by adding 0.5 M excess sodium nitrate and 2.0 M NaOH to the mixture while stirring until the pH of the solution turns 10. NNE-LDH nanohybrid was prepared by reconstruction method without isolating the phytochemicals by adding pristine Mg-Al LDH powder (2 g) slowly to a solution of NNE crude dissolved in DMSO (100 mg/ 50 mL). According to quantitative analysis, 80 wt% of the crude extract was incorporated into WLE-LDH. SEM images were visualized as hexagonal platelets with sharp edges for both pristine LDH and NNE-LDH. The powder XRD patterns demonstrated successful formation of the LDH nanohybrid. The bands in the FTIR spectrum of NNE-LDH confirmed that the anions of the flower extract was intercalated into pristine LDH and stabilized within the interlayer of pristine LDH. The resulting nanohybrid with bioactive phytoconstituents has indicated antioxidant activity (EC50 of 0.58 mg mL -1 ) and antityrosinase activity (IC50 of 0.63 mg mL - 1 ). Further, synthesized nanohybrid demonstrated slow and sustained release characteristics proving their applicability in skin whitening formulations. The NNE-LDH nanohybrid showed UV stability, resulting in the antioxidant activity of the flower extract being preserved within the layered nanohybrid. The NNE- LDH release profile matched with the lotus flower extract enzyme kinetics data, implying that the action mechanism is based on flower extract bioactive constituents’ dissolution from the pristine LDH bilayers. In this context, the synthesized NNE-LDH nanohybrid is an excellent drug carrier for the treatment of hyperpigmentation disorders for biomedical studies as well as a valuable source of whitening agents for the cosmetic industry. Based on these superior features, the synthesized NNE-LDH nanohybrid is suitable for developing a novel topical skin application.
P12
© The Author(s), 2023
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