contents external environment, moisturizers made from bioactive natural products
are needed. Moisturizers are cosmetic products that prevent the skin against xerosis
and delaying of premature ageing and for their use to help dermatological therapies
in a wide variety of skin disorders (Capitani et al. 2012). The mode of action of
moisturizers should not be overemphasized as 1. They may act by an occlusive
mode thereby impairing the evaporation of skin moisture by forming an epicutaneous lipidic film that prevents water loss, when oils and lipids are used as moisturizers; or 2. As humectants that act by attracting water from the other layers of the
epidermis to the stratum corneum i.e., glycerine and sodium pyrrolidone carboxylic
acid; are used as moisturizers. Other moisturizing modes of action include active
hydration by rearranging the stratum corneum and aquaporin formation. The
aquaporins are transmembrane proteins which form water channels and facilitate
water flux through the cell plasma membrane thus being important to maintain
aconstant water content in viable epidermis (Capitani et al. 2012).
2.5 Delivery Technology for Bioactive Natural Products
Nanotechnology has been considered as a promising delivery system with respect to
transdermal drugs delivery and eco-friendly pesticide formulation, including those
with natural plant products incorporated as active ingridients (Angajala et al. 2014;
Da Costa et al. 2014; Rodríguez-Rojo et al. 2012). Nanotechnology is a useful
system for delivering chemical compounds across the cuticle and it has the potential
of application in the food industry, disease treatment delivery system, food packaging and bioactive compound delivery to target sites. The widespread commercial
application of nanoemulsion technology especially in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries is due to its small droplet size (10–100 nm) as suggested by
some researchers (Rai et al. 2015; Polychniatou and Tzia 2014), that causes a
reduction in the Brownian motion and gravitational strength (Mishra et al. 2014;
Tadros et al. 2004). Similarly, the small size of droplets spread uniformly on the
surface and helps to enhanced wetting, spreading and penetration as a result of the
low surface tension. Additionally, it can prevent flocculation and coalescence of the
droplets and enables the system to remain dispersed without separation.
Furthermore, the surfactant film thickness prevents disruption and thinning of liquid
film between the droplets. Nanoemulsion can encapsulate active ingredients within
their droplets and this help in reducing chemical degradation (McClements and
Decker 2000) and hence expand cell wall penetration of the fungus, due to their
smaller size (Zahid et al. 2012)). Other benefits include, less amount of energy
requirement, increase rate of absorption and eliminates variation on absorption, and
increases bioavailability (Mishra et al. 2014).
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T. Ahmadu and K. Ahmad
are needed. Moisturizers are cosmetic products that prevent the skin against xerosis
and delaying of premature ageing and for their use to help dermatological therapies
in a wide variety of skin disorders (Capitani et al. 2012). The mode of action of
moisturizers should not be overemphasized as 1. They may act by an occlusive
mode thereby impairing the evaporation of skin moisture by forming an epicutaneous lipidic film that prevents water loss, when oils and lipids are used as moisturizers; or 2. As humectants that act by attracting water from the other layers of the
epidermis to the stratum corneum i.e., glycerine and sodium pyrrolidone carboxylic
acid; are used as moisturizers. Other moisturizing modes of action include active
hydration by rearranging the stratum corneum and aquaporin formation. The
aquaporins are transmembrane proteins which form water channels and facilitate
water flux through the cell plasma membrane thus being important to maintain
aconstant water content in viable epidermis (Capitani et al. 2012).
2.5 Delivery Technology for Bioactive Natural Products
Nanotechnology has been considered as a promising delivery system with respect to
transdermal drugs delivery and eco-friendly pesticide formulation, including those
with natural plant products incorporated as active ingridients (Angajala et al. 2014;
Da Costa et al. 2014; Rodríguez-Rojo et al. 2012). Nanotechnology is a useful
system for delivering chemical compounds across the cuticle and it has the potential
of application in the food industry, disease treatment delivery system, food packaging and bioactive compound delivery to target sites. The widespread commercial
application of nanoemulsion technology especially in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries is due to its small droplet size (10–100 nm) as suggested by
some researchers (Rai et al. 2015; Polychniatou and Tzia 2014), that causes a
reduction in the Brownian motion and gravitational strength (Mishra et al. 2014;
Tadros et al. 2004). Similarly, the small size of droplets spread uniformly on the
surface and helps to enhanced wetting, spreading and penetration as a result of the
low surface tension. Additionally, it can prevent flocculation and coalescence of the
droplets and enables the system to remain dispersed without separation.
Furthermore, the surfactant film thickness prevents disruption and thinning of liquid
film between the droplets. Nanoemulsion can encapsulate active ingredients within
their droplets and this help in reducing chemical degradation (McClements and
Decker 2000) and hence expand cell wall penetration of the fungus, due to their
smaller size (Zahid et al. 2012)). Other benefits include, less amount of energy
requirement, increase rate of absorption and eliminates variation on absorption, and
increases bioavailability (Mishra et al. 2014).
76
T. Ahmadu and K. Ahmad