Stability and efficiency of Kacip Fatimah-Chitosan nanoparticles as a delivery system in facial cleansing application

Abstract

Kacip Fatimah is a potential anti-aging active ingredient in cosmetics. A delivery system is essential to deliver the active ingredient through the skin but the challenges were how to deliver the active ingredients in wash-off products. Negatively charged skin surface leads to development of cationic vesicle as the delivery system. The objective was to develop Kacip Fatimah-Chitosan nanoparticle as a stable and effective delivery system in the facial cleansing formulation. This naturally cationic delivery system was prepared by tripolyphosphate (TPP) crosslinking (ionic gelation method) with chitosan’s concentration of 1.5 mg/ml and TPP’s concentration of 0.7 mg/ml, with ratio of chitosan to TPP as 7:1. Particles were successfully formed by ultrasonication at 40% amplitude for 3 minutes. Low molecular weight (LMW) chitosan was the best choice for further deacetylation process based on its size at 122.1 nm compared to higher chitosan’s molecular weights with sizes below 100 nm. Deacetylation process was done to obtain 90% DD (degree of deacetylation) nanoparticles. Zeta potential results showed stable nanoparticles for both LMW and 90% nanoparticles but 90% DD nanoparticles showed better size distribution with PDI (polydispersity index) value of 0.432. Encapsulation efficiency (EE%) of Kacip Fatimah by 90% DD nanoparticles was higher than LMW nanoparticles with values of 74.37% and 33.95%, respectively. 90% DD nanoparticles deposited more actives (1.83 µg/cm2) on skin after washing, as compared to LMW nanoparticles which only deposited 0.67 µg/cm2 active ingredient. These results showed that chitosan nanoparticle can be a potential carrier for Kacip Fatimah in facial cleansing formulation with better stability using deaceatylated chitosan.