Issue 44, 2015

Beta-lactoglobulin-based encapsulating systems as emerging bioavailability enhancers for nutraceuticals: a review

Abstract

In the past few decades, encapsulation has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance the bioavailability of poorly absorbed nutraceuticals. Proteins as natural polymers are generally recognized as safe (GRAS), and they exhibit unique advantages such as natural abundance, amphiphilic nature, satisfactory biodegradability, and desirable functional properties. Beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) is the major component of whey protein and a natural transporter for a number of nutrients. The superior functionality along with marked resistance against peptic digestion enables the preparation of diverse forms of BLG-based encapsulating and delivering vehicles for bioactive compounds. This review article starts with introducing the basic concepts on encapsulation, together with the advantageous properties of BLG with emphasis on the structure–function relation. Afterwards, delivery systems in different forms (simple molecular complexes, nanoparticles, nanoemulsions, and gels) using BLG alone or combining BLG with other polymers are compared systematically with regard to their strengths, weaknesses, and potential applications. Lastly, the challenges and prospective areas of study related to BLG-based delivery systems are discussed.

Graphical abstract: Beta-lactoglobulin-based encapsulating systems as emerging bioavailability enhancers for nutraceuticals: a review

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
29 Jan 2015
Accepted
08 Apr 2015
First published
08 Apr 2015

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 35138-35154

Author version available

Beta-lactoglobulin-based encapsulating systems as emerging bioavailability enhancers for nutraceuticals: a review

Z. Teng, R. Xu and Q. Wang, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 35138 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA01814E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements