Improving oral bioavailability of nutraceuticals by engineered nanoparticle-based delivery systems

• We reviewed the influence of engineered nanoparticles on nutraceuticals bioaccessibility.
• We reviewed the influence of engineered nanoparticles on nutraceuticals absorption.
• We reviewed the influence of engineered nanoparticles on nutraceuticals metabolism.

Many important nutraceuticals have poor oral bioavailability, which greatly lowers their efficacy as health-promoting agents. Engineered nanoparticles (ENs) can be used to fabricate delivery systems that improve oral bioavailability through a number of mechanisms: increasing nutraceutical stability in foods and the gastrointestinal tract (GIT); enhancing nutraceutical solubility in intestinal fluids; facilitating nutraceutical absorption by GIT; and decreasing first-pass metabolism in the gut and liver. This review depicts the mode of actions of different food-grade ENs in improving oral bioavailability of nutraceuticals.