Nanotechnology-Enabled Delivery Systems for Food Functionalization and Fortification

The use of functional foods for health enhancement is of great public interest. Recognition of the powerful functionality of micronutrients has established a new group of food ingredients, called nutraceuticals, positioned between nutrition and medicine. But despite the growing interest in supplementing foods with nutraceutical ingredients such as antioxidants, phytochemicals, omega-3 fatty acids, proboitic bacteria and others, incorporating these components into existing food formulations presents many challenges due to the high concentration of bioactives required to provide specific health benefits, the disagreeable taste and aroma associated with most nutrients, chemical instability and undesirable interaction with other ingredients in the food system, and the risk of reducing bioavailability due to active inability to reach the target site to provide desirable functionality. Various drug delivery systems such as liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, micelles, and polymer micro/nanoparticles have shown much promise in controlled release and targeted drug delivery. Colloidal particles in the size range 10-100 nm are considered nanoparticles. Conversion of coarse particles of nutraceutical compounds to nanoparticles or nanosuspensions can be effective in handling the solubility and bioavailability challenges in the delivery of nutraceuticals. This chapter will review a variety of nanoparticles that are currently under consideration as carriers of therapeutic molecules. These include liposomes, cochelates, coacervates, hydrogels, dendrimers, polymeric micelles, nanoemulsions, and others