Characterisation of Virgin Coconut Oil Based Lamellar Liquid Crystal Incorporated with Lycopene

In this study, virgin coconut oil (VCO)-based  lamellar liquid crystal (LLC) systems was formulated from single and mixed surfactants system of  Brij30/H2O/VCO and Tween 60:Brij30/H2O/VCO,  respectively using trial and error method with  fixed composition. The study incorporated lycopene, as an additive compound into the formulated  VCO-based LLC (V-L?) with varying percentages of  lycopene in VCO phase prior to mixing all the  ingredients in a desired composition. The purpose  of this study was to determine the best V- L? system  for use as a platform that can accommodate optimum lycopene. Physicochemical characterisation of the  systems was performed by optical polarising  microscopy (OPM), small-angle X-ray scattering  (SAXS) and rheological profile analysis. The OPM and SAXS results showed that both systems were capable  of accommodating lycopene up to 70 wt%. Optical  polarising microscope study showed that the lamellar  texture of both systems remained even in the presence of lycopene up to 70 wt%, without any  changes in the mesophases. The textures consist of  striated, maltese cross and oily streak and the  sharpest and clearest texture was exhibited by the  Brij30/H2O/VCO system. The formation of lamella  structures was also supported from the SAXS analysis  where two recurring scattering peaks of scattering  peak 1 and peak 2 for first derivation were  observed in the SAXS spectrum of all the samples  studied with a value of d < 56.38 Å. Rheological  study showed that lamellar structure of Brij 30  system was much stronger than the Tween 60: Brij 30  system. The addition of 30 wt% of lycopene content to the Brij 30 system resulted in the lamellar  structure with the strongest network and the most  stable internal structure. In conclusion, the best  V-L? formulation was from the Brij 30/H2O/VCO system  with the optimum lycopene content at 30 wt%.