Production and characterization of nanoparticles containing methanol extracts of Portuguese Lavenders Filipe Pereira a , Rafael Baptista b , Diogo Ladeiras a , Ana M. Madureira b , Generosa Teixeira c , Catarina Rosado a , Ana S. Fernandes a,b , Lia Ascensão d , Catarina Oliveira Silva a , Catarina Pinto Reis a,1 , Patrícia Rijo a,b,⇑,1 a Universidade Lusófona (CBIOS – Research Center for Biosciences & Health Technologies), Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal b Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Investigação do Medicamento (iMed.ULisboa), Faculdade de Farmácia, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal c Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (Ce3C), Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal d Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal article info Article history: Received 15 April 2015 Received in revised form 23 June 2015 Accepted 13 July 2015 Available online 22 July 2015 Keywords: Lavandula stoechas ssp. luisieri Lavandula pedunculata Antioxidant activity Nanotechnology Dermatology Cosmetic applications abstract Lavenders (Lavandula species) are aromatic plants of great economic value for fragrance, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Their biological activities and application on ther- apy can be compromised due to bioactive compounds physicochemical instability. Therefore, nanotechnology can be used as a way of achieving this stabilization. The antioxidant profile of different extracts from Lavandula stoechas ssp. luisieri and L. pedunculata were established by lipid peroxidation inhibition and the antioxidant activity confirmed by the free radical scavenging method. Methanol extracts of L. stoechas ssp. luisieri and L. pedunculata, due to their high antioxidant activity, phenolic content (1387.21 and 1044.19 mg gallic acid equivalents g sample 1 , respectively) and flavonoid amount (482.4 and 360.0 mg rutin equivalents g sample 1 ) were selected for encapsulation. The produced polymeric poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) nanoparticles observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a well-defined spherical shape and a high encapsulation efficiency (>96%) when the concentration of the extracts main component, rosmarinic acid, was used as indicator of encapsulation efficiency. The epidermal permeation of both extracts through human epidermis and their in vitro cytotoxicity in human keratinocytes studies were suggestive of low risks of toxicity. In conclusion, the current study provides data for promising new cosmetic or dermatological formulations for the pharmaceutical industry, as anti-aging and antioxidant agents. Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Lavenders are aromatic evergreen shrubs from Lamiaceae family that have been traditionally used as culinary herbs and medicine for headaches, digestive trou- bles, burns, skin sores and insect bites. Nowadays, these plants are extensively cultivated as ornamental plants for garden, landscape use, potpourris and essential oil produc- tion to fragrance, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food and flavor industries [26]. Lavandula stoechas ssp. luisieri (Rozeira) Rozeira (Syn: L. luisieri; L. stoechas var. luisieri) and Lavandula pedunculata (Mill.) Cav. (Syn: L. pedunculata ssp. sampaiana; L. stoechas ssp. pedunculata) are two common Lavandula species growing wild in Portugal [13]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2015.07.029 0263-2241/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author at: Universidade Lusófona (CBIOS – Research Center for Health Sciences & Technologies), Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal. Tel.: +351 21 7515577/50; fax: + 351 21 7515598/79. E-mail address: patricia.rijo@ulusofona.pt (P. Rijo). 1 Shared senior authorship. Measurement 74 (2015) 170–177 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Measurement journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/measurement