Anacardic Acid: A Promising Building Block for the Sustainable Preparation of Vesicular Nanosystems

Abstract: Anacardic acid is a renewable product extracted, under mild conditions, from the cashew nuts. Its importance is growing with time thanks to various high-value biotechnological applications. In this research, anacardic acid has been used both in pristine form, and as the main component combined with cholesterol, to prepare three different nanoformulations through an environmentally friendly procedure. Physicochemical characterization shown stable and well-shaped spherical nanomorphologies with a mean diameter of about 220 nm. Stability studies in aqueous solution involving different anacardic acid-based formulations at different temperatures allowed to find the optimal combinations for obtaining vesicular nanosystems, the composition of which remains unchanged up to 28 days. These results are promising to refine the development of potential bioactive nanocarriers to be applied in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].