Protection of Bioactive Compounds

The vegetal extracts are complex blends of chemical compounds from various classes: polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamins, essential oils, etc. It is known that these components are highly sensitive to the action of oxygen, light radiations and high temperature. These factors contribute to the degradation of bioactive compounds and implicitly to the decrease of their biological potential. Therefore, the encapsulation of bioactive compounds in different matrices is required in order to prevent the aforementioned shortcomings.

The purpose of this review is to synthesize the newest information about the biocomponents’ encapsulation. The encapsulation of bioactive compounds, ensures the stability of the volatile compounds during thermic processing, the protection of bioactive components against environmental factors, the increase of the solubility of bioactive compounds, the controlled release of bioactive components, etc. Various techniques are used for the encapsulation of bioactive compounds, some of them being: emulsification, coacervation, gelation, extrusion, spray drying, spray cooling, etc.

Keywords: Biopolymers, Coacervation, Emulsions, Encapsulation, Gelation, Microparticles, Nanoparticles.