Choosing the right delivery systems for functional ingredients in foods: an industrial perspective

Comparison of Gamma-Oryzanol Nanoemulsions Fabricated by Different High Energy Techniques

Gamma-oryzanol (GO) is a bioactive compound that, due to its biological characteristics, can be added to a food matrix. However, the bioactive compound is difficult to incorporate due to its low solubility and stability. A nanoemulsion allows substances to be packaged in nanometric sizes, improving their bioavailability. In this work, a GO nanoemulsion was developed using high-energy techniques. The methodological process began with the formulation of the coarse emulsion, where the emulsifiers (sodium caseinate and citrus pectin), diluent (rice bran oil), and pH were varied to find the most stable formulation. The coarse emulsion was subjected to four high-energy techniques (conventional homogenization, high-pressure homogenization, ultra-high-pressure homogenization, and ultrasonication) to reduce the droplet size. A physical-stability test, rheological-behavior test, image analysis, and particle-size-and-distribution test were conducted to determine which was the best technique. The formulation with the highest stability (pH 5.3) was composed of 87% water, 6.1% sodium caseinate, 0.6% citrus pectin, 6.1% rice bran oil, and 0.2% GO. The ultrasonic treatment obtains the smallest particle size (30.1 ± 1 nm), and the high-pressure treatment obtains the greatest stability (TSI < 0.3), both at 0 and 7 days of storage. High-energy treatments significantly reduce the droplet size of the emulsion, with important differences between each technique.

Droplet-Based Microfluidics as a Platform to Design Food-Grade Delivery Systems Based on the Entrapped Compound Type

Microfluidic technology has emerged as a powerful tool for several applications, including chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering. Due to the laminar regime, droplet-based microfluidics enable the development of diverse delivery systems based on food-grade emulsions, such as multiple emulsions, microgels, microcapsules, solid lipid microparticles, and giant liposomes. Additionally, by precisely manipulating fluids on the low-energy-demand micrometer scale, it becomes possible to control the size, shape, and dispersity of generated droplets, which makes microfluidic emulsification an excellent approach for tailoring delivery system properties based on the nature of the entrapped compounds. Thus, this review points out the most current advances in droplet-based microfluidic processes, which successfully use food-grade emulsions to develop simple and complex delivery systems. In this context, we summarized the principles of droplet-based microfluidics, introducing the most common microdevice geometries, the materials used in the manufacture, and the forces involved in the different droplet-generation processes into the microchannels. Subsequently, the encapsulated compound type, classified as lipophilic or hydrophilic functional compounds, was used as a starting point to present current advances in delivery systems using food-grade emulsions and their assembly using microfluidic technologies. Finally, we discuss the limitations and perspectives of scale-up in droplet-based microfluidic approaches, including the challenges that have limited the transition of microfluidic processes from the lab-scale to the industrial-scale.

Insight of nanotechnological processing for nano-fortified functional foods and nutraceutical-opportunities, challenges, and future scope in food for better health

In the twenty-first century food sector, nanotechnological processing is a new frontier that has vibrant impact on enhancing the food quality, nutritional value, food safety, and nano-fortified functional foods aspects. In addition, the added-value of various robust nano-scale materials facilitates the targeted delivery of nutraceutical ingredients and treatment of obesity and comorbidities. The recent advancement in nanomaterial-assisted palatability enhancement of healthy foods opened up a whole new area of research and development in food nanoscience. However, there is no comprehensive review available on promises of nanotechnology in the food industry in the existing literature. Thus, herein, an effort has been made to cover this leftover literature gap by spotlighting the new nanotechnological frontier and their future scope in food engineering for better health. Following a brief introduction, promises of nanotechnology have revolutionized the twenty-first century food sector of the modern world. Next, recent and relevant examples discuss the exploitation and deployment of nanomaterials in food to attain certain health benefits. A detailed insight is also given by discussing the role of nano-processing in nutraceutical delivery to treat obesity and comorbidities. The latter half of the work focuses on improving healthy foods' palatability and food safety aspects to meet the growing consumer demands. Furthermore, marketed products and public acceptance of nanotechnologically designed food items as well as future prospects are also covered herein.

Encapsulation Using Plant Proteins: Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Wetting for Simple Zein Coacervates

Traditionally, complex coacervates of oppositely charged biopolymers have been used to form coatings around oil droplets for encapsulation of oil-soluble payloads. However, many proteins can form coacervates by themselves under certain conditions. Here, we revisit the well-known simple coacervates of prolamins such as zein in mixed solvents to explore whether they can be used for plant-based encapsulation systems. We show that, for zein in mixed water/propylene glycol (PG) solvents, we can encapsulate limonene droplets but only under specific conditions. We illustrate that this limitation is due to the very different physical properties of the simple zein coacervates as compared to those of the more extensively studied complex coacervates. Droplets of simple coacervates of zein can carry a significant net charge, whereas complex coacervates are usually close to being charge-balanced. In particular, we demonstrate that the spreading of zein coacervates at the interface of the droplets is thermodynamically favorable due to their extremely low interfacial tensions in both the dispersed (∼0.24 mN/m) and oil phases (∼0.68 mN/m), but the kinetics of coacervate droplet deposition and the interactions among coacervate droplets that oppose coacervate droplet coalescence are highly pH-dependent, leading to a sharp pH optimum (around pH 8) for capsule formation.