Abstract
Various kinds of vesicles have been produced from plant, animal and inorganic materials for use as delivery vehicles especially in functional food formulation. However, major drawbacks associated with most of them include issues with sustainability, safety, biocompatibility, biorecognition, stability, bioavailability, bioadhesion, generation of reactive species, inefficient encapsulation and protection, and inability to release the bioactive compounds at target regions of the gastrointestinal tract. The use of vesicles innately formed in plant and animal cells as delivery agents would potentially solve most problems associated with the existing nanodelivery systems. Underutilized vesicles, known as exosomes, exist in plant and animal cells, where they play roles in cell communication and nutrient delivery. To date, exosomes have proven to be stable, biocompatible and able to withstand the activity of digestive enzymes until they reach their target locations. However, there is a need to explore better ways of inducing exosome production, to elucidate their physiological roles, and understand their biogenesis in plants, to discover sustainable methods of isolation of high yields of the vesicles. There is also a need to clarify the digestibility and interaction of the exosomes with blood and gastrointestinal fluids. This review highlights the isolation techniques and delivery potential of exosomes, and equally presents research gaps for enhancing the use of the natural vesicles for delivery purposes.
Highlights
During the past decade, there has been a pressing need for developing green, sustainable and biocompatible materials for the delivery of bioactive compounds within the food, pharmaceutical and medical industry
As some nutrients and phytochemicals can pass through the digestive tract without being absorbed efficiently, exosomes can be explored as a stable and natural nanodelivery system for increasing bioavailability of these compounds
When fruits are consumed, there is the possibility that exosome-like particles are used as nanovectors in the body, thereby functioning in delivering of their inherent nutrients and bioactive compounds
Summary
There has been a pressing need for developing green, sustainable and biocompatible materials for the delivery of bioactive compounds within the food, pharmaceutical and medical industry. Among the various extracellular vesicles, exosome, an intraluminal vesicle released when multivesicular bodies undergo exocytosis, have gained attention as a potential nanodelivery system for nutraceutical compounds This is because of their various desirable properties such as small size, safety, biocompatibility, biorecognition, high stability and target specificity. Because of the way they are formed, their phospholipid bilayer exterior is made up of cell surface proteins, which allow them to take part in processes such as intercellular communication, exchange of materials with other cells, elimination of unwanted products from cells, and immune surveillance (Andaloussi et al, 2013; Beach et al, 2014) Whether it is by phagocytosis, endocytosis or activating another cell through the surface proteins, exosomes have been proven to be functional in communication and delivery in biological systems.
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