Nanodelivery of Food Bioactive Compounds

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last couple of decades, there has been a growing research interest in nanodelivery of bioactive ingredients using different techniques and the incorporation of the nanoencapsulated compounds into various food products, known as ‘functional foods’. This includes the delivery of a diverse class of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamins, minerals, essential oils, and flavours.

This Special Issue of ‘Nanodelivery of food bioactive compounds’ aims to bring together pure and applied research papers on various nanodelivery/nanoencapsulation methods that have been experimented and suggested for the aformentioned broad group of bioactive compounds. Such methods may include emulsification, nanospray drying, coacervation, liposomal/niosomal entrapment, complexation of proteins-polysaccharides, inclusion complexation, encapsulation within solid lipid nanoparticles/nanostructured lipid carriers, etc.

In addition, various nanonanoencapsulated bioactive compounds that have been incorporated into food products (e.g., milk and dairy products, bars, bread, breakfast cereals, meat products, cookies, cakes, juices, oils, and chewing gum) can be published in this Special Issue.

The nanoencapsulation approach provides some potential advantages in improving solubility/dispersibility of the bioactive compounds (particularly, hydrophobic compounds) in food, controlling their release in the gastrointestinal digestive tract, masking their undesirable sensorial properties, improving their chemical stability in food during manufacture and storage, and maintaining their functionality/efficacy in the human body. Therefore, the informaiton on the novel and conventional techniques that have been used for nanodelivery of the aforementioned bioactive compounds and their incorporation into functional food products would enhance the value of this Special Issue to the researchers and other users in this area. This will also be useful for discussing the challenges associated with nanodelivery of bioactive compounds (e.g. potential toxicity), as well as the possible novel approaches for engineering, modification, and overcoming such challenges of the nanoencapsulation systems.

Dr. Ali Rashidinejad
Prof. Dr. Filomena Barreiro
Guest Editors

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