338 KEY WORDS: Babassu, Nanoemulsion, Oil. * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: caio_pfernandes@yahoo.com.br Latin American Journal of Pharmacy (formerly Acta Farmacéutica Bonaerense) Lat. Am. J. Pharm. 34 (2): 338-43 (2015) Regular article Received: October 28, 2014 Revised version: December 15, 2014 Accepted: December 16, 2014 Development of Babassu Oil Based Nanoemulsions Escarleth da C.R. RODRIGUES 1 , Adriana M. FERREIRA 2 , Jessica C.E. VILHENA 2 , Fernanda B. de ALMEIDA 1,2 , Rodrigo A.S. CRUZ 1,2 , Jesús R. RODRÍGUEZ AMADO 1,2 , Alexandro C. FLORENTINO 3 , José C.T. CARVALHO 2 & Caio P. FERNANDES 1,2 * 1 Laboratório de Nanobiotecnologia Fitofarmacêutica, 2 Laboratório de Pesquisa em Fármacos, 3 Laboratório de Absorção Atômica e Bioprospecção, Colegiado de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Amapá, Rodovia Juscelino Kubitschek Km 02, Jardim Marco Zero, CEP: 68903-419, Macapá, AP, Brazil SUMMARY. Babassu oil is an important natural raw material, being very attractive for food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Despite nanotechnology is one most promising area for innovative prod- ucts, to our knowledge, babassu oil remains almost unexplored as a constituent of nanoformulations. On this context, the aim of the present study was to develop nanoemulsions containing babassu oil. Mean droplet analysis revealed that nanoemulsion with HLB of 11.5 reached the smallest diameter (107.4 ± 1.2 nm) among all formulations, beside a low polidispersity value (0.255 ± 0.008), suggesting that this is the re- quired HLB value of the oil used in the present study. This formulation was used as starting point for pseudo-ternary diagram construction. Ten nanoemulsions presented mean droplets below 200 nm and were used for nanoemulsion region determination. The present study allowed achievement of nanoemul- sions with small droplets using babassu oil, contributing to reduce further development stages of na- noemulsions with this important raw material. RESUMEN. El aceite de babasú es una importante materia prima natural, siendo muy atractivo para la industria alimentaria, cosmética y farmacéutica. A pesar que la nanotecnología es un área más prometedora para los pro- ductos innovadores, a nuestro entender el aceite de babasú permanece casi inexplorado como constituyente de nanoformulaciones. En este contexto, el objetivo del presente estudio fue desarrollar nanoemulsiones contenien- do aceite de babasú. La media del análisis de la gota reveló que la nanoemulsión con HLB de 11,5 tenía el diá- metro más pequeño (107,4 ± 1,2 nm) entre todas las formulaciones, junto a un valor de polidispersidad baja (0,255 ± 0,008), lo que sugiere que este es el valor HLB requerido del aceite utilizado en la presente estudio. Esta formulación se usó como punto de partida para la construcción de un diagrama pseudo-ternario de partida. Diez nanoemulsiones presentan gotas de valor medio inferior a 200 nm y se utilizaron para la determinación de la re- gión de nanoemulsión. El presente estudio permitió el logro de nanoemulsiones con pequeñas gotas de aceite de babasú, que contribuye a reducir las etapas de desarrollo de nanoemulsiones con esta importante materia prima. INTRODUCTION Several species from the genus Attalea are commonly known as babassu, including A. vit- rivir and A. speciosa 1,2 . Their fruits have been used by Indians from North and Northeast of Brazil and are present in folk medicine, includ- ing for treatment of gastritis, leucorrhea and wounds 3 . Babassu also has great economic im- portance for many families, since they are col- lected in order to obtain an oil with industrial applications 4 . Babassu oil is recognized by a high content of shorter chain saturated acids, in- cluding lauric, miristic, caprilic, capric, palmitic and stearic acids 5-7 . Moreover, this oil has an in- trinsic resistance against oxidation, being very attractive for food, cosmetics and pharmaceuti- cal industries 6 . Nanotechnology is one of most promising ar- eas for development of innovative products 8,9 . Considering the wide range of nanoformulations which can be achieve with natural oils, na- noemulsions appear as a good alternative. They are dispersed kinetically stable systems with mean droplet ranging from 20-200 nm. Na- noemulsions are often transparent, translucent and have a characteristic bluish reflect, being prepared by low or high energy methods 10-13 . Hydrophile-lipophile balance determination and ISSN 0326 2383 (printed ed.) ISSN 2362-3853 (on line ed.)