Recent Developments in Encapsulation of Carotenoid Components by Nanotechnological Techniques

Abstract

Carotenoid components have a significant potential in terms of the food and health industry. They are undergone oxidation and isomerization with the influence of unfavourable environmental conditions depending on process and storage conditions. In addition, their bioavailability is reduced due to inexactly release from food matrix, degradation during digestion, and to be hidrofobic properties. Encapsulation is defined as a effective process that provides bioactive components coated with suitable coating materials by creating of a protective physical barrier against undesirable conditions. In recent years, nanoencapsulation technology together with development of nanotechnology has been gradually increased in order to improve the resistance, processing and bioavailability of the carotenoids. Studies showed that nanoencapsulation has high potential for having features such as providing more surface area, high encapsulation efficiency-yield, solubility enhancement and developing controlled release compared to microencapsulation. In this review, it is emphasized on the efficiency of using the nanoencapsulation techniques to increase stability of carotenoid components, and the recent developments.