Utilization of Nanotechnology to Improve the Application and Bioavailability of Phytochemicals Derived from Waste Streams

Abstract

Phytochemicals are relatively small molecular species found in edible plants that may exhibit a diverse range of techno-and biofunctional attributes. In particular, there has been great interest in the identification, isolation, and utilization of dietary phytochemicals that can be used as natural pigments, antioxidants, or antimicrobials or that may improve human health and wellbeing by preventing chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Relatively high levels of these phytochemicals are often present in the waste streams produced by the food and agriculture industry, such as the peels, stems, roots, or leaves of plants, that are normally discarded or turned into animal foods. From an economic and environmental perspective, it would be advantageous to convert these waste streams into value-added functional ingredients, which is consistent with the creation of a more circular economy. Bioactive phytochemicals can be isolated from agricultural and food waste streams using green extraction methods and then incorporated into plant-based functional foods or biodegradable active packaging materials. The utilization of phytochemicals in the food industry is often challenging. They may chemically degrade in the presence of light, heat, oxygen, and some pH conditions, thereby altering their biological activity. They may have low solubility in aqueous solutions and gastrointestinal fluids, thereby making them difficult to introduce into foods and leading to a low bioavailability. These challenges can sometimes be overcome using nanoencapsulation, which involves trapping the phytochemicals inside tiny food-grade particles. These nanoparticles may be assembled from edible lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and/or surfactants and include nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanoliposomes, and biopolymer nanoparticles. In this manuscript, we review a number of important phytochemicals and nanoencapsulation methods used to improve their efficacy.

Novel Approaches in the Valorization of Agricultural Wastes and Their Applications

“…The valorization of biomass by conventional methods such as solid–liquid extraction after maceration and novel and green methods such as extraction with sonication, supercritical fluids, microwaves, and pulsed electric fields recently attracted attention, because of their high phytochemical content, which provides antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties leading to potential health benefits. , For instance, these health-promoting bioactive compounds in fruit and vegetable wastes play an essential role in their anticancer, antimutagenic, antiviral, antioxidant, antitumor activities and their ability to reduce the risks of cardiometabolic diseases. Also, recent studies focusing on phytochemicals state that the high antioxidant properties of polyphenols from plant sources, including skins, seeds, pulp, or pomace, make polyphenols one of the primary phytochemicals important for health aspects …”

“…Although the demand and consumer acceptance for natural antioxidants in the food industry are constantly increasing to prevent harmful chemical additives and inhibit the oxidation processes in the final product, there are several problems with the utilization of natural antioxidants in various food products. , Most of them are challenged by chemical degradation in foods and the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), reducing their bioavailability and bioactivity . In addition, many of them have a poor solubility problem, leading to a restriction of their direct incorporation in some foods, and many of them struggle with sensitivity to oxygen, light, heat, enzymes, salts, and acid or alkaline media, causing losses in their beneficial effects and activity .…”

Condensed Tannins, a Viable Solution To Meet the Need for Sustainable and Effective Multifunctionality in Food Packaging: Structure, Sources, and Properties

“…Given the widespread occurrence and the growing global interest toward green production processes, in the last years the possibility to recover these compounds from low-cost, largely available, and sustainable sources, such as agri-food byproducts, has been intensively investigated. − One of the richest sources (up to 25% w/w, of dry matter) of CT is undoubtedly grape pomace, especially grape seeds, ,,,, followed by walnut and peanut skin, , canola hull, pecan nut and cocoa shell, ,, bean seed coat, buckwheat hull, and apple peel . Recently, the possibility to exploit exhausted woods from tannin extraction as a source of high-molecular-weight CT has also been reported …”

Jabuticaba (Myrciaria jaboticaba) Peel as a Sustainable Source of Anthocyanins and Ellagitannins Delivered by Phospholipid Vesicles for Alleviating Oxidative Stress in Human Keratinocytes

“…Considering the rich phenolic content of the jabuticaba peel extract and the low bioavailability of these molecules [29,30], especially on the skin, it was loaded into transfersomes-phospholipid vesicles tailored for topical application [31,32]. To this end, an edge activator (Tween 80) was added to the phospholipids to increase the bilayer fluid-ity and the vesicle ability to squeeze through the inter-corneocyte matrix, increasing the payload deposition in the deeper skin layers [31].…”