Moringa oleifera Seed Oil Nanoemulsion Using Tween 80 and Polyethylene Glycol 400: Oil Characterization and Formula Optimization

Moringa oleifera is a useful plant known for its antialopecia properties. Nanoemulsions have been proven effective as a carrier for the delivery of lipophilic compounds in Moringa oleifera seed oil to increase the permeation of active ingredients. This study aimed to characterize the physical and chemical properties of Moringa oleifera seed oil and identify its composition using GCMS, optimize the formulation of a nanoemulsion containing Moringa oleifera seed oil, using Tween 80 as a surfactant and PEG 400 as a co-surfactant. The optimal formulation was determined using Design-Expert through the simplex lattice design approach. A total of 14 formulations were tested for particle size response, polydispersity index (PDI), and zeta potential. The results showed that Moringa oleifera seed oil contained 12 fatty acids, with oleic acid as the most abundant (71.52), followed by palmitic (8.05), stearic (5.99), behenic (5.31), and arachidic acid (2.97).The acid value, peroxide, density, saponification, refractive index, and moisture content of the oil were 0.46 mg KOH/g oil, 6.28 meq O<inf>2</inf>/kg oil, 0.915 grams/cm³, 253.5 mg KOH/g oil, as well as 1.4668 and 0.12 w/w, respectively. The optimal formulation obtained consisted of 6.401 Moringa oleifera seed oil, 36 Tween 80, and 18.599 PEG 400. Evaluation of the optimal formula showed particle size response value was 237.06 nm, PDI 0.467, zeta potential-20.89 mV, transmittance value 97.7, spherical shape in observations using TEM. Nanoemulsion containing high quality of Moringa oleifera seed oil was able to be formulated, which may serve as a promising dosage form for hair growth treatments. © 2025 the authors.