Pickering emulsions for functional food systems

Abstract

Pickering emulsions are a valuable platform to efficiently encapsulate and deliver bioactive compounds in functional food systems. Research in the past decade highlights many technical and environmental advantages of emulsification using nanoparticle emulsifiers over conventional surfactants. In particular, nanoparticles are versatile and serve as a convenient platform onto which many modifications can be made to improve storage stability as well as controlled, targeted, and sustained release of bioactive compounds. However, these systems pose technical challenges alongside their benefits which can be overcome using various strategies. In this review, we discuss the recent and potential applications of Pickering emulsion systems in functional foods together with their encapsulation and delivery mechanisms.