The spray-drying of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) using maltodextrin as the excipient

Abstract

The NLCs are potent carriers for lipophilic bioactive compounds. In this study, the NLC:maltodextrin (6:10) solution at the inlet temperatures of 110 or 180 °C, and the feed flow rate of 5 or 15 mL/min was spray-dried and the powders characteristics were evaluated. The SEM micrographs showed the particle morphologies of hollow spheroids with smooth surfaces. The powder production yields as high as 66% was achieved. The sizes of NLC particles after the redispersion of the spray-dried powders shifted to higher amounts [from 57.3 nm (in the biggest size before drying) to 93.7 nm (in the biggest size after drying)], but were below the acceptable size of NLC systems. The measurement of flowability indices such as Carr's compressibility index (in average 16.21), Hausner ratio (in average 1.20), and angle of repose (31-42°) showed that the samples were categorized as the powders with good flowability. The results of this study revealed that NLC systems can be successfully spray-dried by using maltodextrin as the excipient without any drastic changes in the particle size.