Ricerc@Sapienza

The aim of the present work is to develop nanoemulsions (NEs), nanosized emulsions, manufactured for
improving the delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients. In particular, nanoemulsions composed of
Neem seed oil, contain rich bioactive components, and Tween 20 as nonionic surfactant were prepared.
A mean droplet size ranging from 10 to 100nm was obtained by modulating the oil/surfactant ratio.
Physicochemical characterisation was carried out evaluating size, f-potential, microviscosity, polarity and

An Italian certified Neem seed oil was characterized through the color analysis, the HPLC phenolic fingerprint and the preliminary evaluation of the cytotoxicity profile against the human macrophage (THP-1) cell line. Moreover, a wide screening of its enzyme inhibitory profile, antimicrobial activity towards Helicobacter pylori, several Candida spp. and Malassezia furfur strains and antiprotozoal activity against Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania infantum and Leishmania tropica were performed.