The activity of candlenut oil in the nanostructured lipid carrier system on hair growth in rats

BACKGROUND: Candlenut oil (Aleurites moluccana L. Willd), which is also called Aleurites moluccana Seed (AMS) oil, is empirically effective as a hair growth agent, it is an unstable substance. Nanostructured Lipid Carrier (NLC) is a delivery system that is proven to increase the effectiveness and stability of the material, and the usage of solid lipid combination: beeswax-oleum cacao can produce good NLC characteristics. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of NLC_AMS oil with different combination of beeswax-oleum cacao (100:0; 50:50; 25:75; and 0:100) as a hair growth agent, using rats as subjects. METHODS: NLC-AMS oil was made using 20% of total lipid with 5% AMS oil as liquid lipid and 15% solid lipid; combinations of beeswax-oleum cacao were of different ratios (100:0; 50:50; 25:75; and 0:100). NLC was made by High Shear Homogenization (HPH) method. Hair growth activity test carried out on male white rats using the research methods of Yoon (2010). RESULTS: The addition of oleum cacao as a solid lipid did not affect the pH, but increased the consistency and decreased the particle size of NLC- AMS oil. There was a relationship between the characteristic of NLC and the hair growth activity test: the small particle size and low viscosity had greater hair growth activity. CONCLUSION: The usage of solid lipid combination: beeswaxoleum cacao can produce better NLC characteristics and had higher hair growth activity than the formulas that used single lipid.