Guoyan Liu

In food science, the application of bioactive compounds is promising, but the deficiencies in their solubility, stability, and bioavailability seriously limit their efficacy. Co-delivery can control the release of bioactive substances and achieve synergistic effects to enhance efficacy. For this reason, co-delivery systems have emerged as a novel strategy that has attracted much attention from researchers in recent years. This review provides an in-depth analysis of the unique properties of different bioactive ingredients and systematically describes the latest research progress of co-encapsulation systems such as emulsions, nanoparticles, and liposomes. It also introduces their advanced characterization tools. Meanwhile, the kinetic law of the release of bioactive ingredients in vivo and its molecular mechanism are discussed in depth through experimental data and theoretical analysis. In addition, the potential application value of the co-encapsulation system in the food industry is also introduced in detail. In summary, this study not only provides a solid theoretical foundation and rich reference basis for further research in the field of co-encapsulation, but also provides new ideas and directions to promote the construction and development of rational and efficient co-encapsulation systems, and to promote the innovation and development of functional foods and precision nutrition.

A dysphagia diet is a special dietary programme. The development and design of foods for dysphagia should consider both swallowing safety and food nutritional quality. In this study, we investigated the rheological properties (viscosity, thixotropy, and viscoelasticity), textural properties, and swallowing behaviour of commercially available natural, pregelatinised, acetylated, and phosphorylated maize starch and tapioca starch. The results showed that all the samples belonged to food grade 3 in the framework of the International Dysphagia Dietary Standardization Initiative (IDDSI) and exhibited shear-thinning behaviour in favour of dysphagia patients, except for the sample containing pregelatinised starch, which was grade 2. Rheological tests showed that the samples had good structural recovery properties. At the same starch concentration, the elastic modulus of phosphorylated cassava starch FSMP was significantly greater than that of the starch solution, whereas that of acetylated starch was significantly less than that of the starch solution, and the combination of acetylated starch and protein led to a significant viscosity reduction phenomenon, resulting in FSMPs with good stability and fluidity; this may provide an opportunity for the incorporation of more high-energy substructures. The textural results showed that all the samples possessed textural properties of low hardness, low adhesion, and high cohesion, all of which could be used as food for dysphagia patients. This study may provide a theoretical basis for the creation and design of novel nutritional foods for dysphagia.

Sinapine is a natural polyphenol from the cruciferous plant family that has anti-aging effects but is low in bioavailability. To improve the bioavailability and therapeutic effect of sinapine, sinapine-crosslinked dual-protein-based hydrogels were prepared using soy protein isolate as a cross-linking agent. The preparation conditions were optimized by single-factor experiments, and the optimal ratios were obtained as follows: the concentration of sinapine was 300 μg/mL; the water–oil ratio was 1:3. The encapsulation rate was greater than 95%, and the drug loading capacity was 3.5 mg/g. In vitro, digestion experiments showed that the dual-protein-based hydrogels as a drug carrier stabilized the release of sinapine and improved the bioavailability of sinapine by 19.3%. The IC50 of DPPH antioxidants was 25 μg/mL as determined by in vitro digestion, and the antioxidant capacity of ABTS was about 20% higher than that of glutaraldehyde control. This is due to the addition of sinapine to enhance the antioxidant properties of the system. It can be seen that the developed hydrogels have potential applications in related fields, such as food nutrition fortification and drug delivery.