ABSTRACT
Phytosomes are lipid-compatible molecular complexes that can be successfully implemented for improving or enhancing the biopharmaceutical properties such as solubility, permeability, and bioavailability of phytoconstituents. Recently, many phytoconstituents have proven their potency in vitro as a potential candidate; however, its application to in vivo is restricted due to their large ring size, incompatibility with the passive diffusion process, and immiscibility with oils and lipids. Therefore, these plant actives have been made effective for in vivo by incorporating them into dietary phospholipids resulting in the formation of molecular complexes with acquiring amphiphilic properties. Phospholipids are one of the dietary components which demonstrates unique properties, i.e., compatibility with the biological membrane and inbuilt hepatoprotective properties. Moreover, it also displays a strong 154affinity for phytoconstituents leading to the formation of phyto-phospholipids complex, i.e., phytosomes. Till now, few methods have been explored by the researcher for the preparation of phytosomes such as solvent evaporation, mechanical dispersion, and nanoprecipitation, etc. Apart from this, the stability of phytosomes is an important issue that needs to be attained. The proposed chapter on phytosomes and phytosomal nanoparticles highlights regarding its concepts, formulation components, manufacturing, and characterization techniques and also its application towards targeted drug delivery system.
