Abstract
Dietary supplements and foods for special medical purposes are special medical products classified according to the legal basis. They are regulated, for example, by the European Food Safety Authority and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as by various national regulations issued most frequently by the Ministry of Health and/or the Ministry of Agriculture of particular countries around the world. They constitute a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals, polyunsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants or other compounds with a nutritional or physiological effect contained in the food/feed, alone or in combination, intended for direct consumption in small measured amounts. As nanotechnology provides “a new dimension” accompanied with new or modified properties conferred to many current materials, it is widely used for the production of a new generation of drug formulations, and it is also used in the food industry and even in various types of nutritional supplements. These nanoformulations of supplements are being prepared especially with the purpose to improve bioavailability, protect active ingredients against degradation, or reduce side effects. This contribution comprehensively summarizes the current state of the research focused on nanoformulated human and veterinary dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, and functional foods for special medical purposes, their particular applications in various food products and drinks as well as the most important related guidelines, regulations and directives.
Highlights
Fortification of edible products with nutrients or non-nutrient bioactive components can help to balance the total nutrient profile of a diet and supplement nutrients lost in processing and to correct or prevent insufficient nutrient intake and associated deficiencies [1]
dietary supplements (DISs) are regulated by many guidelines, regulations and directives, for example, by the European Commission directives 2002/46/EC and 2006/37/EC, European regulations 1924/2006, 1137/2008, 1170/2009, 1161/2011, 119/2014, 2015/414, 2017/1203 [4], and by a number of documents published by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [5], to ensure the quality and safety of these products, to protect consumers against potential health risks from such products, and to ensure that they are not provided with misleading information
CS hydrochloride/carboxymethyl CS nanocomplexes loaded with anthocyanins with particle size 178.1 nm, zeta potential +25.6 mV, and polydispersity index 0.315 showed a higher stability when placed at different conventional storage temperatures, various L-ascorbic acid concentrations, varying pH, or white fluorescent light, suggesting that such nanocomplexes could be applied in food ingredients associated with stable anthocyanins in functional foods and nutraceutical applications [96]
Summary
Fortification of edible products (e.g., food, food constituents, or supplements) with nutrients or non-nutrient bioactive components can help to balance the total nutrient profile of a diet and supplement nutrients lost in processing and to correct or prevent insufficient nutrient intake and associated deficiencies [1]. The enhancement of bioavailability could be achieved by the improved solubility of bioactive compounds under gastrointestinal (GI) conditions, their protection from the chemical conditions in the GI tract, and controlled release within the GI tract, or by an improved transfer through the intestinal wall, and the particle size, surface properties, and physical state of the nanomaterials used in food supplements are crucial characteristics affecting their final nutritional value [43]. Electrospinning and electrospraying technologies constitute useful and modern techniques used for the encapsulation and controlled release of bioactive compounds, including drugs and health-promoting agents Both electrospinning, mostly used for fibres, and electrospraying, mostly used for particles, are voltage-driven fabrication technologies enabling tight control of fibres and particles in the micro-, submicro- and nanoscale dimensions suitable for a wide range (polymers, proteins, inorganic) of materials. Both processes are able to replace traditional techniques, e.g., spray-drying or lyophilisation, as they propose several benefits such as (i) production of dry products in a single step, (ii) room temperature operation (suitable for labile components, e.g., antioxidants, omega-3 oils, living cells, etc.), (iii) enabling to produce single-phase or multi-component fibres and particles, and (iv) high effectivity of encapsulation [53,55,56,57,58,59,60], as mentioned below
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