Encapsulation of probiotics and nutraceuticals: Applications in functional food industry

The current relevance of functional foods in human health and well-being has led to an increased interest in developing new types of oral administration systems for probiotics and nutraceuticals. Encapsulation may provide protection and sustained delivery in food formulations. The recent discussions about probiotics encapsulation for application in both nutraceutical and food sectors are addressed. The topics approached include encapsulation systems, nutraceuticals and probiotics concepts and current market situation, microbial microencapsulation, and food applications for beyond their use in the pharmaceutical industry. Studies analyzing the viability and stability of encapsulated probiotics applied in food matrices are presented and discussed as well. This review sought to present the most recent discussions regarding the nano/microencapsulation of nutraceuticals and probiotics process for application in food products. Although many protocols found in the scientific literature are not viable for commercial applications, some formulations can be employed in food systems. In addition, in vivo human studies are extremely necessary to prove the effectiveness of such formulations.