Oxidative Stability of Nano-Encapsulated Candlenut Oil

Candlenut has a lot of potential pharmacological benefits including in hair care, in treating skin problems such as psoriasis, and in its use as an emollient. However, the high unsaturated fatty acid content of candlenut oil causes it to be easily degraded by oxidation due to exposure to air, light, and humidity. Nanoencapsulations were found to be an alternative in protecting the materials from degradation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of polymer-based nanoencapsulations on the oxidative stability of candlenut oil. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as a polymer wall material. A lower peroxide value indicates better oil stability against oxidation. Results showed that nano-encapsulated candlenut oil has a significantly lower average peroxide value of 0.41 meq/100g over 35 days storage time, compared to 3.8 meq/100g in pure candlenut oil. Furthermore, based on its physical characterization, it was found that the reduction of particle size with the optimal size of 172±12 nm was achieved by increasing the amount of PVA. A well-chosen and well-calculated amount of polymer material, therefore, plays an important role to obtain optimal nano-encapsulated candlenut oil. Keywords: nanoencapsulation, candlenut oil, oxidative stability, polymeric materials