Fridericia chica Aqueous Nano-Dispersion and its Antifungal Potential

The present study shows the direct extraction of a herbal material with an aqueous surfactant dipersion and consequently generation of nano-dispersions of Fridericia chica, a Brazilian folk species. The optimized system was achieved by using non-ionic surfactants proportions at different hydrophile-lipophile balance values. The mean diameter of the dispersed phase was determined by photon correlation spectroscopy and varied from 135 to 180 nm (before dilution) and 135 to 830 nm (after dilution). The zeta potential was negative, varying from -17 to -33 mV and -19 to -36 nm before and after dilution, respectively. The UV-Vis spectrophotometry was also performed in order to access the stability and overall, the better extraction conditions were observed using a sorbitan monooleate/polysorbate 20 (HLB = 8). The in vitro antifungal potential was performed against Candida sp and the inhibition was demonstrated against C. glabrata and especially for C. albicans. Therefore, the present study opens perspectives for a potential new method to obtain nanocarriers from this plant through a low cost, fast and simple preparation approach with a promising bioactivity. Moreover, no organic solvents were used, being in accordance with a current "green" concept for natural medicines.