Preparation of vesicle drug carrier from palm oil- and palm kernel oil-based glycosides

A new mixture of alkyl glycosides derived from palm oil (PO) or palm kernel oil (PKO) was synthesised. This mixture contains glycosylated disaccharide of either maltose or lactose with aliphatic chain that varies according to the PO or PKO fatty acids composition. The synthesis method produced no polymerised sugar unlike the production of the commercial glycosides (APG). The mixture only contains various glycosides differing by the alkyl chain and stereoisomers. Three anomeric mixtures can be produced depending on the reaction time and catalyst: α-dominant mixture, β-dominant mixture and equal mixture. The PO and PKO derived glycosides were able to form a stable vesicle with a small amount of dicetyl phosphate (DCP) and showed high vitamin E encapsulation efficiency. Low packing density of the membrane bilayer enabled more vitamin E to participate in the membrane formation. The anomeric mixtures of the maltosides provide no difference in membrane packing behaviour as it was governed by the hydrophilic region. Significant difference in membrane packing density was observed for lactosides anomeric mixtures because the packing behaviour was influenced by the hydrophobic region. Inclusion of cholesterol led to decrease in vitamin E encapsulation as well as reducing the stability of the vesicle system. The vesicular formulations of the glycosides were stable for 3 months when stored at refrigeration temperature.