Cocoa butter and olive oil were used to produce cardamom essential oil (CEO) loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs). The developed NLC formulations had small size (<150 nm) and high entrapment efficiency (>90%). Scanning electron microscopy showed the round shape of NLC particles. During storage time, the particle size stayed under 150 nm, and zeta potential was almost unchanged (P>0.05). FTIR analysis revealed no new significant chemical interaction between CEO and the NLC components. According to the in vitro release study, a large amount of CEO was encapsulated inside NLC particles (40 to 55% release in 40 days). Also, results confirmed that encapsulation of CEO by NLC was able to protect its antioxidant activity as compared to CEO emulsion (5.7 and 12.32% reduction after 30 days, respectively). CEO release from NLCs was fitted well with the Rigter–Peppas model (R2>93%). The results confirmed that CEO-loaded NLC could be used as a food supplement.
