Food structuring and encapsulation strategies for nutraceutical stabilization and delivery

功能食品含有促进健康和预防疾病的生物活性化合物。当这些化合物从食物中分离出来时，它们被称为营养保健品。总之，功能食品和营养药品（FFN）是加拿大农业和食品工业中日益重要的一部分。然而，尽管FFN越来越受欢迎，但对产品功效的担忧仍然存在。为了在补充剂中使用或作为食品成分，营养保健品可以被封装。然而，在提取、封装或随后的储存和加工过程中，稳定性会受到损害。此外，许多生物活性化合物在消化过程中不能有效地从食物或补充剂中释放出来。特别是亲脂性营养保健品的生物可及性较低。这意味着在消化过程中只有一小部分被摄入的营养物质被释放出来并被吸收。FFN的结构和物理性质对营养品的消化和生物可及性有重要影响。本研究将解决与载体结构如何决定亲脂性营养品的稳定性和生物可及性有关的基本问题。一种模型亲脂性营养保健品，β -胡萝卜素，将被封装在基于脂质的载体（纳米乳液，脂质纳米颗粒和脂质体）中。将确定载体结构、包封效率、贮存稳定性和体外消化性能之间的关系。生物可及性将通过将载体暴露于模拟胃和十二指肠环境的条件下，并测量载体的胶体特性、β -胡萝卜素释放和胶束化的变化来研究。基于所获得的理解，将开发新的胶囊化策略来促进营养食品的稳定和递送。这项工作将解决关于如何构建FFN以获得最佳性能的基本问题。这将使我们更好地了解食品成分结构如何影响食品的营养质量。

Functional foods contain bioactive compounds which promote health and prevent disease. When such compounds are isolated from foods, they are referred to as nutraceuticals. Together, functional foods and nutraceuticals (FFN) are an increasingly important segment of Canada's agricultural and food industries. Despite the growing popularity of FFN, however, there are concerns about product efficacy. In order to use them in supplements or as food ingredients, nutraceuticals can be encapsulated. However, stability can be impaired during extraction, encapsulation or subsequent storage and processing. Furthermore, many bioactive compounds are not effectively released from foods or supplements during digestion. Lipophilic nutraceuticals, in particular, have low bioaccessibilities. This means that only small fractions of some ingested nutrients are released during digestion and available to be absorbed. The structure and physical properties of FFN can have a significant impact on digestion and the bioaccessibility of nutraceuticals. This research will address fundamental questions related to how carrier structure determines the stability and bioaccessibility of lipophilic nutraceuticals. A model lipophilic nutraceutical, beta-carotene, will be encapsulated in lipid-based carriers (nanoemulsions, lipid nanoparticles and liposomes). The relationships between carrier structure, encapsulation efficiency, storage stability, and in vitro digestive performance will be determined. Bioaccessibility will be studied by exposing the carriers to conditions which mimic the gastric and duodenal environments and measuring the changes in the colloidal properties of the carriers, beta-carotene release and micellarization. Based on the understandings gained, novel encapsulation strategies to promote nutraceutical stabilization and delivery will be developed. This work will address basic questions about how FFN can be structured for optimal performance. It will lead to a better understanding of how food ingredient structure influences the nutritional quality of foods.