Abstract
The development of plant-based functional food ingredients has become a major focus of the modern food industry as a response to changes in consumer attitudes. In particular, many consumers are switching to a plant-based diet because of their concerns about animal-derived foods on the environment, human health, and animal welfare. There has therefore been great interest in identifying, isolating, and characterizing functional ingredients from botanical sources, especially waste streams from food and agricultural production. However, many of these functional ingredients cannot simply be incorporated into foods because of their poor solubility, stability, or activity characteristics. In this article, we begin by reviewing conventional and emerging methods of extracting plant-based bioactive agents from natural resources including ultrasound-, microwave-, pulsed electric field- and supercritical fluid-based methods. We then provide a brief overview of different methods to characterize these plant-derived ingredients, including conventional, chromatographic, spectroscopic, and mass spectrometry methods. Finally, we discuss the design of plant-based delivery systems to encapsulate, protect, and deliver these functional ingredients, including micelles, liposomes, emulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles, and microgels. The potential benefits of these plant-based delivery systems are highlighted by discussing their use for incorporating functional ingredients into traditional meat products. However, the same technologies could also be employed to introduce functional ingredients into plant-based meat analogs.
Highlights
The food and agricultural industries have become increasingly interested in developing sustainable plant-based functional materials to replace synthetic or animal-based ones
We focus on the design, fabrication, and utilization of plant-based delivery systems for bioactive food ingredients, such as nutraceuticals, preservatives, colors, and flavors
We have reviewed some of the most important botanical bioactive agents that are being explored as natural preservatives, pigments, flavors, and nutraceuticals in foods and other products
Summary
The food and agricultural industries have become increasingly interested in developing sustainable plant-based functional materials to replace synthetic or animal-based ones. We highlight the utility of these delivery systems for incorporating functional ingredients into traditional meat products. It is important to encapsulate these components within colloidal particles that are specially designed to improve their water dispersibility, chemical stability, and matrix compatibility [4,5]. Encapsulation of these phytochemicals can improve food quality by masking off odors and flavors [12,13], while increasing their shelf-life. The efficacy of encapsulated phytochemicals is highlighted by reviewing their potential applications in the meat industry
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