Encapsulation technologies have achieved encouraging results improving the stability, bioaccessibility and absorption of bioactive compounds post-consumption. There is a bulk of published research on the gastrointestinal behavior of encapsulated bioactive food materials alone using in vitro and in vivo digestion models, but an aspect often overlooked is the impact of the food structure, which is much more complex to unravel and still not well understood. This review focuses on discussing the recent findings in the application of encapsulated bioactive components in fabricated food matrices. Studies have suggested that the integration of encapsulated bioactive compounds has been proven to have an impact on the physicochemical characteristics of the finished product in addition to the protective effect of encapsulation on the fortified bioactive compound. These products containing bioactive compounds undergo further structural reorganization during digestion, impacting the release and emptying rates of fortified bioactive compounds. Thus, by manipulation of various food structures and matrices, the release and delivery of these bioactive compounds can be altered. This knowledge provides new opportunities for designing specialized foods for specific populations.

This study develops an innovative cell-based carrier to simultaneously encapsulate multiple phytochemicals from a complex plant source. Muscadine grapes (MG) juice prepared from fresh fruit was used as a model juice. After incubation with inactivated bacterial cells, 66.97% of the total anthocyanins, and 72.67% of the total antioxidant compounds were encapsulated in the cells from MG juice. Confocal images illustrated a uniform localization of the encapsulated material in the cells. The spectral emission scans indicated the presence of a diverse class of phenolic compounds, which was characterized using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Using HPLC, diverse phytochemical compound classes were analyzed, including flavanols, phenolic acid, hydroxycinnamic acid, flavonols, and polymeric polyphenols. The analysis validated that the cell carrier could encapsulate a complex profile of bioactive compounds from fruit juice, and the encapsulated content and efficiencies varied by the chemical class and compound. In addition, after the heat treatment at 90 °C for 60 min, >87% total antioxidant capacity and 90% anthocyanin content were recovered from the encapsulated MG. In summary, these results highlight the significant potential of a selected bacterial strain for simultaneous encapsulation of diverse phenolic compounds from fruit juice and improving their process stability.

Artificial neural network (ANN) development to find optimal carriers (pea protein-P, maltodextrin-M, and inulin-I) mixture for encapsulation of pumpkin waste bioactives (β-carotene and phenolics).

Freeze-drying encapsulation and encapsulates characterisation in terms of bioactives contents and encapsulation efficiencies, water activity, hygroscopicity, densities, flowability, cohesiveness, particle size (laser diffraction), solubility, color (CIELab), morphological (SEM), stability and release properties.

Optimal encapsulates, OE-T (with highest total bioactives contents; P, M, and I of 53.9, 46.1, and 0%w/w) and OE-EE (with highest bioactives encapsulation efficiencies; P, M, and I of 45.5, 32.0, and 22.5%w/w) had particle diameters of 94.561 ± 1.341µm and 90.206 ± 0.571µm, span of 1.777 ± 0.094 and 1.588 ± 0.089, highest release at pH 7.4 of phenolics of 71.03%w/w after 72h and 66.22%w/w after 48h, and β-carotene of 43.67%w/w after 8h and 48.62%w/w after 6h, respectively.

ANN model for prediction of encapsulates' preparation, showed good anticipation properties (with gained determination coefficients of 1.000).

Many peptides exhibit beneficial physiological functions, but their application in foods is limited because of their undesirable taste and their tendency to degrade when exposed to gastrointestinal conditions. In this study, water-in-oil high internal phase emulsions (W/O HIPEs) were used to encapsulate bitter peptides. A combination of confocal fluorescence and electron microscopy was used to confirm the formation of W/O HIPEs. The presence of high concentrations of bitter peptides increased the apparent shear viscosity, shear modulus and sedimentation stability. They also improved the oxidative stability of the HIPEs. Electronic-tongue and sensory analysis showed that encapsulated peptides within the HIPEs substantially reduced their bitterness. Moreover, a simulated gastrointestinal study showed that W/O HIPEs protected peptides from being released in the stomach. Our results show that W/O HIPEs can be used to mask the bitterness and improve the gastrointestinal stability of peptides, which may increase their utilization as bioactive ingredients in foods.

The genus Hibiscus includes more than 250 species, and many studies showed that these plants contain bioactive compounds with technological potential to be used in the development of functional foods. However, the instability of these compounds during typical food processing conditions, such as exposure to high temperatures, pH changes and presence of light and oxygen have stimulated the use of encapsulation techniques to increase their stability and applicability. Among the existing Hibiscus species, only H. sabdariffa, H. cannabinus, and H. acetosella have been investigated in encapsulation studies, being spray drying the most common method approached. Considering the high technological potential offered by the incorporation of encapsulated bioactive compounds from plants of the genus Hibiscus in food formulations, this review discusses key information of selected encapsulation techniques, which represents promising alternatives to increase food systems' stability and stimulate the design of new functional foods. Relevant gaps in the literature were also noticed, mainly the lack of systematic studies regarding the composition of bioactive compounds after encapsulation, instead of total determinations, and biological activities in different analytical systems, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties as well as bioaccessibility and bioavailability.

The all-polysaccharide based polyelectrolyte microcapsules combining copigmentation for anthocyanin encapsulation and stabilization were fabricated. Copigmented complexes of chondroitin sulfate and anthocyanin were preloaded in CaCO₃ scaffold, and then microcapsules were created by coating the sacrificial CaCO₃ using layer-by-layer technique. It was observed that the preloading of copigmented complex affected the precipitation reaction of CaCO₃ and the subsequent entrapment of anthocyanin. With addition of anthocyanin from 0.125 to 0.75 mg, copigmentation can significantly increase the encapsulation efficiency of anthocyanin in CaCO₃, whereas such effect was not obvious at higher loadings. The leakage of anthocyanin during CaCO₃ core dissolution and storage was also inhibited by two polysaccharide layers coupled with copigmentation, which may be related to the formation of interconnecting networks. Additionally, a higher anthocyanin antioxidant activity was provided by carbohydrate matrix. These findings may allow for the encapsulation of large amounts of water-soluble components; particularly natural colorant by copigmented complex-polyelectrolyte structures.