Abstract: The effects of cholesterol on physicochemical characteristics of salidroside containing liposomes were investigated in present work. The results showed that the higher the cholesterol content is, the higher the encapsulating efficiency of liposomes until its mass is equal to that of lecithin. However, cholesterol content shows little effect on the salidroside loading. Experimental data indicated that the leakage percentage of no cholesterol-liposomes reach 10% and 15% at 4 ℃ and 30 ℃ respetively during one month period, in comparison with the liposomes incorporating cholesterol (1:5 and 1:2, W/W) with 6%, 5% and 12%, 10%, respectively. Liposomes incorporating cholesterol (1:1, W/W) resulted in the increasing leakage again. In conclusion, liposomes incorporating cholesterol (1:2, W/W) can show a better performance.

Key words: liposome, salidroside, cholesterol, stability