FORMULATION, OPTIMIZATION AND EVALUATION OF HEXADECANOIC ACID PHYTOSOMAL GEL FOR ANTI-FUNGAL ACTIVITY

Phytosomes is vesicular drug delivery system in which phytoconstituents of herb extract surround and are bound by lipid. Hexadecanoic acid is the phytoconstituents of Nigella sativa oil. Hexadecanoic acid is hydrophobic and possesses less solubility and permeability. The study aims to formulate, optimize, and evaluation of hexadecanoic acid phytosomal gel for anti-fungal activity hexadecanoic acid loaded phytosomes were prepared using Thin film hydration method and were optimized using  factorial design (3²) using Design-expert®  software (Version 7.0.0, Stat-Ease Inc., Minneapolis, USA) different formulations were prepared. Two different independent variables were used, which include: Amount of Soya lecithin (X1), amount of cholesterol (X2) and the responses are particles size determination (Y1), and entrapment efficiency (Y2). The optimized formulation of hexadecanoic acid phytosomes was incorporated into a Carbapol 934 gel base and 1.5% of hexadecanoic acid phytosomal gel was prepared which was evaluated for drug content, pH, Spreadability, viscosity and in-vitro drug release. The prepared hexadecanoic acid phytosomes had a maximize EE% was found to be (72.23%), particle size was found to be (715 nm), the Spreadability value was (10.4cm). The prepared phytosomal gel was found to be (88.4%), which represents good content uniformity. The viscosity was found to 1900 cps. The Cumulative percentage of drug release for the phytosomal gel was found to be 91.54±0.27 %. The phytosomal gel was stable at 4°C for 90 days. R² Values for the optimized formulation were found to be highest for the Higuchi model. This indicated that the drug release from all the formulations followed diffusion controlled release mechanism.