Innovative Skin Product Emulsions with Enhanced Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and UV Protection Properties Containing Nanoparticles of Pure and Modified Chitosan with Encapsulated Fresh Pomegranate Juice

Nikolaos D Bikiaris; Georgia Michailidou; Maria Lazaridou; Evi Christodoulou; Eleni Gounari; Anna Ofrydopoulou; Dimitra A Lambropoulou; Souzan Vergkizi-Nikolakaki; Smaro Lykidou; Nikolaos Nikolaidis

doi:10.3390/polym12071542

Innovative Skin Product Emulsions with Enhanced Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and UV Protection Properties Containing Nanoparticles of Pure and Modified Chitosan with Encapsulated Fresh Pomegranate Juice

Polymers (Basel). 2020 Jul 12;12(7):1542. doi: 10.3390/polym12071542.

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers and Dyes, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
² Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
³ Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.

Abstract

In the present study, a chitosan (CS) derivative with the 2-(Methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide (SDAEM) zwitterionic monomer was prepared through chemical modification. The successful synthesis of CS-SDAEM was confirmed by Fourier-transform Infrared (FTIR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H-NMR) spectroscopies. Its crystallinity was studied by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), while in vitro cytotoxicity and cell viability assays established its biocompatibility. Filtered fresh pomegranate juice (PJ) was loaded in nanoparticles of neat CS and its derivative via ionic gelation method. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) revealed nanoparticles sizes varying between 426 nm and 4.5 μm, indicating a size-dependence on the polymer concentration used during encapsulation. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry detection (LC-PDA-ESI/MS) revealed that PJ active compounds were successfully and in sufficient amounts encapsulated in the nanoparticles interior, whereas XRD indicated a crystalline structure alteration after nanoencapsulation. The resulted PJ-loaded nanoparticles were further utilized for the preparation of innovative O/W cosmetic emulsions. All produced emulsions exhibited good pH and viscosity stability for up to 90 days, while the sun protection factor (SPF) was enhanced due to the presence of the PJ. Enhanced antioxidant and antimicrobial properties due to the phenolic compounds of PJ were also observed.

Keywords: UV protection; antimicrobial properties; antioxidant stability; chitosan derivatives; cosmetic emulsions; nanoparticles; polysaccharide; pomegranate juice.