Nanotechnology, particularly nanoemulsions (NEs), have gained increasing interest from researchers throughout the years. The small-sized droplet with a high surface area makes NEs important in many industries. In this review article, the components, properties, formation, and applications are summarized. The advantages and disadvantages are also described in this article. The formation of the nanosized emulsion can be divided into two types: high and low energy methods. In high energy methods, high-pressure homogenization, microfluidization, and ultrasonic emulsification are described thoroughly. Spontaneous emulsification, phase inversion temperature (PIT), phase inversion composition (PIC), and the less known D-phase emulsification (DPE) methods are emphasized in low energy methods. The applications of NEs are described in three main areas which are food, cosmetics, and drug delivery.

Purpose – Halal cosmetics area is progressively increasing these days. This bibliometric analysis is intended to systematically evaluate the research to brief researchers about the trend of halal cosmetics field. This paper also discloses the limitations of the studies in the area. Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopted bibliometric and network analysis to evaluate the research area. A total of 82 documents obtained from the Scopus database are extracted and analysed. Findings – The paper reports the type of documents available, the years published, authorship and geographical distribution of the published documents in the halal cosmetics area. From the keyword analysis, it is found that the most used words are halal cosmetics, halal, cosmetics, purchase intention, Malaysia, and Islamic marketing. Research limitations/implications – This bibliometric study is conducted using Scopus database; however, Scopus might possibly omit some publications, thus, authors might not report the missing studies. Halal cosmetics are still in the early years of publications, and only 82 published documents were analysed in the study. Originality/value – There is no study reported on the network analysis and bibliometric study techniques in the area of halal cosmetics.

In this study, the Ficus deltoidea extract loaded nanostructured lipid carrier was prepared by using the melt emulsification homogenization method. Virgin coconut oil is used as liquid lipid, while glyceryl monostearate is the solid lipid. Particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, drug loading and morphology of the obtained nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) were measured. The size of the nanostructured lipid carrier incorporated with Ficus deltoidea (FDNLC) is 158.0 ± 1.3 nm, with a polydispersity index of 0.15 ± 0.02. The zeta potential obtained is −42.3 ± 1.5 mV. The encapsulation efficiency and active ingredient loading capacity for FDNLC is 87.4% ± 1.3% and 8.5% ± 1.2%, respectively. The shape of FDNLC is almost spherical and the stability assessment showed that the obtained formulation is at least stable for 40 days. When compared with the positive controls, which are Trolox and ascorbic acid, FDNLC shows the highest antioxidant value. Cell proliferation activity study indicates that FDNLC is not toxic to cells, and FDNLC could potentially treat damage by ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation.

Triggered by the strong antimicrobial activities of menthol and various fatty acids, eutectic mixtures based on the components are developed, producing new solvents that have possibilities to become a new antibiotic. This study aims to provide an insight into the antimicrobial activities of the new deep eutectic solvents (DESs) developed. Menthol-based DES combined with fatty acids, namely propionic acid, butanoic acid, hexanoic acid, octanoic acid, decanoic acid, and levulinic acid, were successfully obtained and their thermal profile was analyzed. The antimicrobial potential of DES systems was evaluated against both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Owing to the activities of the start-up components, the results are considered promising, and this illustrates the potential of the newly obtained DESs as a new antimicrobial agent in various fields such as food, cosmetics as well as pharmaceutical.