Nanoencapsulation of vegetable phytonutrients: Health Implications, delivery techniques, and future prospects

Abstract

Phytonutrients are the plant derived bioactive compounds associated with positive health effects. Phytochemicals is another name for them. They may offer medical health benefits, such as the prevention and treatment of disease and other physiological abnormalities, and they have a significant impact on the health care system. By preserving and adjusting immune function, phytonutrients can avoid certain diseases. Since they are natural products, they have a lot of potential for use in clinical therapy because they don't have any of the negative consequences of radiation or chemotherapy. Acts as an antioxidant and possesses anti-inflammatory activities, helps to repair DNA damage and protects from cardiovascular diseases. They can be found in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, tea, nuts, beans, spices. Including classes such as carotenoids, flavonoids, isothiocyanates, and much more. The improper diet and unbalanced nutrition are the major reasons of malnutrition of about 3 billion people in our world which can be improved through proper balanced diet, the rest population mainly consumes only single source of nutrition such as meat, carbohydrates and proteins this is due to lack of awareness about the nutritional value of phytonutrients which can help in improving health and lifestyle of humans. There is also less progress in the field of extracting phytonutrients from vegetables and utilising them as a superfood. This void is filled via nanoencapsulation. Nanoencapsulation is the process of enclosing a substance with in an inert material at the sizes of nano scale. The process of encapsulating phytonutrients can be done by these techniques’ emulsification, coacervation, nano-precipitation, supercritical antisolvent precipitation, spray drying, freeze drying. Some of the Phytonutrients are currently being encapsulated such as β-Carotene, capsaicin, curcumin, lutein etc. Some of these products are commercially available in market with different names like CQ max, Paindex, Nutriherbs, Nano quercetin, Nano cumin, Nano ginger.