ABSTRACT
Recently, food quality and lifestyle have changed, leading in some cases to nutritional deficiency, causing learning disabilities and less work capacity and even potentiating some health problems that in extreme cases could lead to death. Also, the actual increase of the consumption of junk food, which is rich in fat, sugar, and salt and poor in micronutrients, has highly increased the number of people with obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems. But nowadays, with the constant alert and information about the increase number of deaths and diseases caused by bad diet, people are starting to worry about their health and about their food composition. One of the solutions proposed to overcome these nutritional problems is food fortification. It consists of the addition of micronutrients in food formulation in order to improve its nutritional quality. Food fortification is not a new concept; it has some limitations associated with it: stability, bioavailability, and consumers’ acceptance. In fact, most of the micronutrients are very sensitive to harsh conditions, such as high temperatures and light, have low water solubility, and can even precipitate. Other micronutrients can also have a strong smell and flavor, changing food properties and its organoleptic characteristics, which is not desirable.
The promising methodologies to overcome these issues are micro- and nanoencapsulation, which can be used to protect the micronutrients from harsh conditions, increase their stability, and even allow a controlled release with high bioavailability.
In this chapter, the main micronutrients used in food products, their main function, and challenges are presented. Afterward, methods and technologies used for their nanoencapsulation are discussed, along with possible solutions to overcome issues experienced in the direct addition of micronutrients. Top-down technologies such as electrohydrodynamic process (electrospinning and electrospraying), nanospray drying, and nanoemulsion are promising to encapsulate micronutrients. The biosafety, bioaccessibility, and bioavailability of the application of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain are also discussed.
