Physicochemical Design and <i>In Vitro</i> Evaluation of Diterpene Phytol-Loaded Solid Lipid Nanoparticles

Phytol (PHY) is a water immiscible natural diterpene with interesting pharmacologic and antioxidant properties with great potential for application in foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. In this letter, a natural 1,3-distearyl-2-oleyl glycerol (TG1) extracted from <i>Platonia insignis</i> Mart was explored as a lipid matrix for preparing uniformly sized and stable PHY-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN). Different tested compositions induced spherical (<300 nm), stable SLN with high encapsulation efficiency (>90%), able to induce slow release and a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect of PHY. These achievements corroborated with a promising nanocarrier for PHY and are able to be tested in different application fields.