Storage stability, heat stability, controlled release and antifungal activity of liposomes as alternative fungal preservation agents

The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of liposomes encapsulated ethanolic Cinnamomum verum, Curcuma longa, Zingiber officinale, Syzygium aromaticum and Laurus nobilis extract prepared using lipid phase containing phosphatidylcholine/extract mixture of 10:1. The antifungal activity, size, zeta (ζ) potential, morphology, physical stability, heat stability, release in in-vitro digestion, color and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were conducted to determine the characteristics of liposomes. All extract-loaded liposomes showed prominently antifungal activity against Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. The encapsulation efficiency of all samples was 86.60%–92.87%. Curcuma longa loaded liposome had high encapsulation efficiency after freeze dry-rehydration (FD-RH), long-term and freeze-thaw (FT) storage treatment. The thermal stability of Syzygium aromaticum loaded liposomes was higher than the others. The highest release values in the in-vitro gastric and intestinal condition were detected in Laurus nobilis loaded liposome. DSC data of liposomes demonstrated to be the endothermic phase at three different temperature ranges: lipid bilayers transition from gel state to liquid crystal form (1.69–5.31 °C), the pre-phase transition temperature (102.16–133.10 °C) and the main phase transition temperature (116.47–165.22 °C).