Nanoencapsulation of food ingredients using lipid based delivery systems

Nanoencapsulation allows protection of the sensitive bioactive food ingredients from unfavorable environmental conditions, eradication of incompatibilities, solubilization, or masking of unpleasant taste or odor. This paper reviews the present state of the art of lipid based carriers including nanoemulsions, nanoliposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and novel generation of encapsulation system namely nanostructure lipid carriers (NLCs) regarding their production method, physicochemical properties, functionalities, stabilization techniques, potential advantages and limitations and delivery mechanisms. In the last section, mathematical models for predication of bioactive release kinetics from lipid based nanocarriers, which can be applied for optimization of encapsulation systems, are presented and some future developments in the area of nanoencapsulation are discussed.