Title : Emulsion systems in augmenting stability and bioavailability of nutrients in nutraceuticals: A step towards achieving nutritional efficiency
Abstract:
With an ever-increasing demand for stable, bioavailable, healthy, safe, and sustainable alternatives, the evolving landscape of nutraceuticals is visualizing cutting-edge developments. Bioaccessibility and bioavailability of nutrients from nutraceuticals involve release of nutrients from the delivery platform, solubilization, dispersion, absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination. Nutrient-associated physicochemical and physiological factors affecting the functional, nutritional, and therapeutic outcomes include varying gastrointestinal pH, poor solubility, dispersibility, digestibility, enzymatic degradability, difficulties in transport and penetration across the mucosal wall, presence of P-glycoprotein efflux transporters, hepatic first-pass metabolism, and inter-individual variation in gut physiology, microbiome, and digestion parameters.Certain extrinsic variables such as the composition and nature of delivery platform, exposure to environmental stresses during processing, manufacturing, and shelf-life may have adverse effects on quality attributes, stability, bioavailability, and nutritional efficiency. Advancements in emulsion systems and state-of-the-art technologies are revolutionizing nutraceutical delivery and maximizing nutrient bioavailability.
Among several approaches that are being investigated, nanoemulsions, double emulsions, multilayer emulsions, pickering emulsions, nanoemulsions with structured lipids, self-emulsifying liquid, and solid preparations, low-fat viscous and semisolid emulsions are gaining popularity. Not only do these novel emulsion systems open up new avenues in augmenting stability, bioavailability, and nutritional qualities, but they have also improved textural properties, and protection against gastric irritation, and are being regarded as healthy options for diabetic and obese persons with restricted calorie-intake. However, successful novel formulations can be developed only after consideration of the influence of droplet size, droplet size distribution, and extent of interfacial engineering by emulsifiers. Further studies need to be done to gain a complete understanding of gastrointestinal fate of the systems, scale-up challenges, benefit-cost ratio, in vitro-in vivo correlation, and regulatory perspectives. The presentation will discuss strategies for the protection of nutraceutical stability, quality, promotion of efficiency, and potential health benefits of emulsion-based nutraceuticals.
