One of the formulations of the water poorly soluble drugs is the emulsion. The inner oil phase of the oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion is the carrier for the water poorly soluble drugs. In this study the soybean, rapeseed, safflower and olive oil were considered as a potential ibuprofen carriers and were investigated for dissolving of the ibuprofen. The ibuprofen dissolution test showed the different ability of the tested oils to dissolve the ibuprofen and the olive oil was selected as the proper one. Thus the o/w emulsion based on the olive oil and containing the ibuprofen was prepared. In the role of the emulsifier the rapeseed lecithin ethanol soluble fraction (LESF) was used. Also the comparative emulsion was obtained without the ibuprofen. The comparative emulsion had the stability different from the emulsion system with the drug. As the result of the investigation we concluded that the emulsion with the olive oil and LESF could be a potential ibuprofen formulation in accordance to its high ibuprofen dissolution degree in the olive oil. This emulsion was stable during 28 days at 20°C where the dispersion degree changed from 7.33 to 5.15 cm-1.
Key words: Ibuprofen, Emulsions, Emulsion stability, Rapeseed phospholipids, Vegetable oils.