Microencapsulation of bioactives: from nature to products
Conference Paper
Overview
Overview
abstract
In a general way, to potentiate marketable products based on natural bioactives,
research should be oriented towards product development with possibilities for
industrial applications by choosing appropriate technologies, processing conditions,
materials and strategies. As so, to go from “nature to products” several steps need to
be followed: (i) selection of viable plant sources; (ii) selection and application of
appropriate extraction techniques; (iii) application of stabilization/encapsulation
techniques; and (iv) proof of concept, preferably with real matrices. Even though the
existing knowledge concerning the identification and characterization of natural
sources of bioactives, application of these compounds into food/cosmetic matrices still
present important challenges that urge to be solved. In fact, bioactive compounds are
generally recognized as presenting problems of instability, either during storage and
processing stages or upon application, which weakens their bioavailability and
potential benefits. Moreover, they can present unpleasant taste and odor.
Microencapsulation is a technique that allows bioactive compounds/extracts to be
incorporated into a matrix or coating shell in the form of particles with diameters
ranging from 1 to 1000 micrometers. These microparticles can release their contents
along with time by means of different release mechanisms, which are dependent from
the used encapsulation materials, productive process, final morphology and
application. Microencapsulation can thus provide a tool to protect natural bioactives
against the action of atmospheric agents such as light, moisture and heat, ensuring
stability increase and bioavailability control. Moreover it can be used to provide a
controlled and target release. This work intends to give an overview of the cooperative
and interdisciplinary work developed between BioChemCore
(http://esa.ipb.pt/biochemcore/) and LSRE/IPB (http://lsre.fe.up.pt/) research groups,
in the field of bioactives microencapsulation. Thus, microencapsulation techniques will
be discussed by presenting a set of case studies focusing process development and
product validation though incorporation of microencapsulated bioactives into
food/cosmetic matrices.
