Bioencapsulation technologies for incorporating bioactive components into functional foods

Consumers all over the world are aggressively demanding more from their food products, over and above traditional expectations. They want foods to sustain a long life, promote health and wellness, provide energy, improve digestive health, manage weight, reduce obesity and support immunity. Consumers want to counter the effects of their busy lifestyles with foods that taste great and are ultra-convenient. To satisfy this consumer demand and regulatory limits, food and nutraceutical products have been developed incorporating functional bioactive ingredients derived from milk, fruits, vegetables, cereals, herbs and spices. A food can be regarded as ‘functional’ if it is adequately demonstrated to affect beneficially one or more target functions in the body, beyond adequate nutritional effects, in a way that is relevant to an improved state of health (De Roos 2004). Functional foods should generally be whole natural foods; however, when bioactive substances are extracted from plant or animal tissues, concentrated and added back to food, the resultant functional food may be called a nutraceutical. Functional foods enriched with vitamins, dietary fibres or specific fatty acids, or foods that are designed to be low in sodium or saturated fat, can therefore make a valuable contribution to diet.