Refined Soybean Oil

Soybean oil acts as a key lipid excipient in parenteral and oral nanocarriers. In injectable emulsions it serves as the principal oily phase furnishing long-chain triglycerides rich in ω-6 linoleic acids. Some marketed products use soybean oil/egg-phospholipid mixtures to solubilise anaesthetics, sedatives or vitamins, prolonging circulation and reducing injection pain while supplying essential calories and tocopherol. To lessen pro-inflammatory ω-6 load, new mixed-oil emulsions limited soybean oil to 20–30 % by blending with olive, fish or medium-chain triglycerides, yet still retain its solvent capacity. In self-emulsifying oral capsules soybean-derived mono/di-glycerides and PEGylated soybean oil are employed to raise the bioavailability of lipophilic antivirals up to 3-fold by forming micro-emulsions in situ. Similarly, topical nano-emulsions incorporating soybean oil enhance the dermal delivery of paclitaxel or estradiol, exploiting skin-compatible triglycerides.

Fig. 1 Refined soybean oil.