Chapter One - Nanotechnology Approaches for Increasing Nutrient Bioavailability

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Abstract

Health-promoting ingredients such as phenolic compounds, vitamins, and minerals are being increasingly introduced into foods and beverages to produce “functional foods” specifically designed to improve human health, well-being, and performance. However, it is often challenging to incorporate these nutraceuticals into foods because they have poor solubility characteristics, impart undesirable flavor profiles, are chemically unstable, or have low bioavailability. This problem can often be overcome by encapsulating the bioactive components in nanoparticle-based delivery systems. The bioavailability of encapsulated bioactive agents often increases when the size of the particles containing them decreases, due to their faster digestion, ability to penetrate the mucus layer, or direct uptake by cells. Nanoparticles can be formulated to survive passage through specific regions of the gastrointestinal tract and then release their payload at a specified point, thus maximizing their potential health benefits. Nutraceutical-loaded nanoparticles can be fabricated through lipid formulations, natural nanocarriers, specialized equipment, biopolymer nanoparticles, and miscellaneous techniques. Classification into these five groups is based on the main mechanism or ingredient used to fabricate the nanoparticles. This chapter focuses on the utilization of food-grade nanoparticles for improving the performance of nutraceuticals in functional foods and beverages.

Introduction

The demand for healthier foods by consumers has risen substantially over recent years due to an increasing awareness of the impact of diet on human health. Consequently, health-promoting ingredients (such as vitamins, minerals, and nutraceuticals) are being increasingly introduced into foods and beverages to produce “functional foods” specifically designed to improve human health, well-being, and performance (Aboalnaja et al., 2016, Oehlke et al., 2014). On the other hand, as the population ages, there is increasing demand for food products with nutritional profiles specifically targeted to the elderly. By 2050, the number of people aged over 65 is expected to reach a total of about 1.5 billion, which is equivalent to 16% of the world's population. It is notable that in 1950, this proportion was only 5% (Haub, 2011).

A number of successful functional food products are already commercially available that contain nutraceuticals. Plant phytosterols and stanols have been incorporated into foods specifically designed to lower cholesterol levels (Chen, Ma, Liang, Peng, & Zuo, 2011). Omega-3 fatty acids have been added to foods designed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular illnesses (Kaushik et al., 2015, Torres-Giner et al., 2010). Vitamin D has been added to foods and beverages to reduce the risk of osteoporosis in certain populations (Heaney, 2007). Dietary fiber has been added to foods to reduce constipation and to improve gut health (Donini, Savina, & Cannella, 2009). Thus, there is a strong motivation to improve the potential health benefits of food and beverage products by fortifying them with nutraceuticals.

Nutraceuticals are at the boundary between nutrition and medicine (McClements et al., 2015, McClements and Xiao, 2014). This term was originally defined as “food or parts of food that provide medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease.” Therefore, there has been considerable interest recently in the incorporation of different types of nutraceuticals into functional foods, such as essential fatty acids (omega-3, conjugated linoleic acid), carotenoids (β-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin), vitamins (D, E, thiamin, riboflavin), antioxidants (tocopherols, flavonoids, polyphenolic compounds), phytosterols (stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, campesterol), fibers (inulin), minerals (Fe2 +, Mg2 +), and bioactive peptides (casein hydrolysates) (McClements, 2013a, McClements, 2013b, Prasad et al., 2014, Sessa et al., 2014, Shaikh et al., 2009, Ting et al., 2015, Tsai et al., 2011, Vachali et al., 2012, van Aken et al., 2009, Yu and Huang, 2012, Zou et al., 2015). However, it is often challenging to incorporate these nutraceuticals into foods because they have poor solubility characteristics, impart undesirable flavor profiles, are chemically unstable, or have low bioavailability (McClements et al., 2015, van Aken et al., 2009). This problem can often be overcome by encapsulating the bioactive components in nanoparticle-based delivery systems.

This chapter focuses on the utilization of food-grade nanoparticles for improving the performance of nutraceuticals in functional foods and beverages.

Section snippets

Bioavailability of Nutraceuticals

Several definitions of bioavailability exist, but broadly it refers to the proportion of an ingested bioactive substance that is absorbed from the diet and used for normal body functions (Aggett, 2010, Hurrell and Egli, 2010). Bioavailability captures two essential features: (i) the absorption rate—how fast the bioactive agent enters the systemic circulation and (ii) the absorption extent—how much of the bioactive reaches the systematic circulation (Borel et al., 2013, Johnson et al., 2005).

The Logic Behind the Development of Nanoparticles to Enhance Bioavailability

Nanotechnology is an enabling technology that has the potential to revolutionize the development of functional food systems. Designing materials on the nanometer length scale (1–100 nm) can lead to food products with novel physicochemical, sensory, and nutritional properties, such as appearance, texture, flavor, stability, and gastrointestinal fate (Chaudhry et al., 2008, Duncan, 2011, Sozer and Kokini, 2009).

The potential advantage of using nanomaterials as delivery systems is based on the fact

Fabrication Methods for Production of Food-Grade Nanoparticles

A wide range of different nanoparticle-based delivery systems have been developed for the encapsulation of nutraceuticals: microemulsions, nanoemulsions, nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), nanoliposomes, and biopolymer nanoparticles (Jafari et al., 2015, McClements, 2013a, McClements, 2015, Oehlke et al., 2014, Pathak and Raghuvanshi, 2015). These nanoparticles can be fabricated from food-grade materials (proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, minerals, and

Safety and Toxicity of Nanostructures Applied in Food Systems

The term nanofood is referred to as edible, natural, and manufactured products in which the material's size is below 100 nm. In general, the usage of nanotechnology in the areas of food packaging and processing is called nanofood. When this term is considered specifically, only food products fabricated with nanotechnology are of interest. As with the changes in the size of particles from the microscale to nano, their features are also changed and thus it is of utmost importance to assess the

Conclusion and Perspectives

Interest in the development of nanoparticle-based delivery systems suitable for utilization in the food industry is increasing due to their potential to improve the efficacy of nutraceutical-fortified functional foods and beverages. For example, these nanoparticles may be used to encapsulate, protect, and release bioactive compounds (such as vitamins, minerals, and nutraceuticals) in functional food applications. Consequently, nanoencapsulation could be used to produce more efficacious

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