Oleanolic acid (OA) and ursolic acid (UA) are triterpene acids with a well-known antitumor activity. The
obtaining procedure (easy extractions from many plants) is an explanation for the large number of studies
on their anti-inflammatory, antiviral, hepatoprotective activity, hair and photo-aged skin treatments. The
low water solubility of pentacyclic triterpenes, which determine their low bioavailability, is a problem
which can be solved by the complexation with cyclodextrins (CDs). In this study OA and UA inclusion
complexes were prepared using two different CDs: hydroxy-propyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPBCD) and
hydroxy-propyl-gamma-cyclodextrin (HPGCD) and kneading as complexation procedure. The products
were analysed by differential scanning calorimetry and X ray diffractometry and it can be concluded that
the complexation with CDs is a good pathway to increase the OA and UA bioavailability.