Prospects of Bioactive Compounds in Designing Functional Foods: Challenges and Solutions

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in functional food formulations with added bioactive compounds, such as vitamins, probiotics, polyphenols and bioactive peptides, specifically in dairy and plant-based foods, bakery, and beverages. However, their stability in the food system, release rates and biological activity after consumption/digestion play an important role in the effectiveness of functional foods. There are technical challenges in maintaining the stability and acceptability of added compounds in the formulation design of food items. A novel approach to delivering bioactive compounds in functional foods is their microencapsulation, where stability-sensitive compounds are protected against their degradation during processing and physiological digestion, with targeted release in the gast