LAUSR

Abstract Many functional substances are hardly dissolved in water or lipid at ambient temperature, which causes some difficulties in product formulation. Therefore, the aim of this research was to develop a novel carrier system by complexing nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) with mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN), which can be used to dissolve lipid-insoluble functional substances or control the release of volatile compounds. A lipid-insoluble antioxidant (quercetin) and a labile volatile compound (limonene) were used as model compounds incorporated into this system. The performance of antioxidant activity of quercetin (QT) on the lipid photo-oxidation of NLC, and the release rate and stability of limonene during the manufacturing process and photo-oxidation were investigated. The addition of MSN-QT greatly improved the lipid stability of NLC during photo-oxidation. Both sheltering effect and antioxidant activity of MSN enhanced the performance of the added antioxidant against the photo-oxidation of NLC. The release rate of limonene was markedly reduced, and photo-stability of limonene was enhanced in this NLC-MSN system.