Lipid rich (side) streams from vegetable processing contains a valuable group of components which attract both water and lipids, lecithin’s. Lecithin’s are used for smoothing food textures, dissolving powders (emulsifiers), homogenizing liquid mixtures, and repelling sticking materials. (from wiki).

Innovative applications of lecithin’s are as stabilizer for liposomes or more recent for solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) or nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC). SLN and NLC’s are colloidal drug carrier systems that can be used for controlled drug delivery via oral or topical (skin) administration. Nano encapsulation protects sensitive bioactive ingredients and improves bioavailability. Applications of SLN and NLC  Nano carriers can be found in pharmaceutics for controlled (anti-cancer) medicine delivery, in cosmetics for controlled anti-aging ingredients delivery and in food for controlled fortified food delivery, e.g. LDL cholesterol lowering ingredients. ZoiY herbal cosmetic  is specially interested in applying NLC for enhancing topical delivery of active botanicals.

This project aims to initiate a supply chain for sourcing, production and application of NLC’s in cosmetics based upon vegetable lecithin’s from renewable resources. The results of this project are identified partners and identified material and processing specifications for possible NLC supply chain development.

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