Folate is an essential component of many metabolic processes, and folate deficiency is known to cause various disorders. Folate and folic acid, a synthetic and chemically stable form of folate, enriched diet are typically used to overcome this deficiency. Folic acid and folate however, are susceptible to harsh environment and folates enrichment using nanoparticles is an intensively studied strategy in food industry. This review highlights the current methods and types of matrices utilized to develop folic acid/folate carrying nanoparticles. The folic acid/folate loaded nanoparticles prevent cargo degradation during gut absorption and under harsh food processing conditions including, high temperatures, UV light, and autoclaving. The data demonstrates that nanofortifcation of folates using proteins and biopolymers effectively enhances the bioavailability of the cargo. The encapsulation of folic acid in biopolymers by emulsion, spray drying and ionic gelation represent simplistic methods that can be easily scaled up with applications in food industry.

In the last decades, the incorporation of bioactive compounds in food supplements aroused the attention of scientists. However, these ingredients often exhibit both low solubility and stability and their poor bioaccessibility within the gastrointestinal tract limits their effectiveness. To overcome these drawbacks, many carriers have been investigated for encapsulating nutraceuticals and enhancing their bioavailability. It is note that several different vegetable wall materials have been applied to build delivery systems. Considering their encapsulation mechanism, lipid and protein-based carriers display specific interaction patterns with bioactives, whereas polysaccharidic-based carriers can entrap them by creating porous highly stable networks. To maximize the encapsulation efficiency, mixed systems are very promising. Following the current goal of using natural and sustainable ingredients, only a limited number of studies about the isolation of new ingredients from agro-food waste are available. In this review, a comprehensive overview of the state of art in the development of innovative natural lipid-, protein- and polysaccharide-based plant carriers is presented, focusing on their application as food active compounds. Different aspects to be considered in the design of delivery systems are discussed, including the carrier structure and chemical features, the interaction between the encapsulating and the core material, and the parameters affecting bioactives entrapment.

Oleosomes are natural oil droplets, abundant in plants and more specifically in seeds, composing 20-50 wt% of their mass. The structure of oleosomes is the mechanism that seeds developed to safely store energy in the form of triacylglycerols and use it during germination. For this, the phospholipid/protein membrane that covers and protects the triacylglycerols has been wisely developed during evolution to grant them extreme stability against physical and chemical stresses. The remarkable property-performance relationships of oleosomes have generated a lot of interest to incorporate them in oil-in-water emulsions and take advantage of their sophisticated membrane. However, the structure-function relationship of the molecular components in the oleosome membrane is still not well understood and requires more attention in order to take complete advantage of their potential functions. The aim of this review is to give insights into the architecture of the oleosomes and to discuss the exploitation of their properties in advanced and broad applications, from carrying and protecting sensitive molecules to bio-catalysis.

Hybrid vesicles are considered as a bridge between natural nanosystems (NNSs) and artificial nanosystems (ANSs). NNSs are extracellular vesicles (EVs), membranous, bio-formed endogenously, which act as endogenous cargoes, and reflecting cellular dynamics. EVs have cellular tropism, permeate tight junctions, and are non-immunogenic. EVs are used as tools in the development of diagnostic and therapeutic agents. ANSs can induce biogenesis of hybrid vesicles as promising smart diagnostic agents, and innovative drug cargoes. EVs can encapsulate small molecules, macromolecules, and ANSs. The manipulation of EVs during biogenesis was suggested for engineering hybrid EVs. This review article highlights the role of ANSs in the biogenesis of NNSs, and introduces hybrid nanosystems research.