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. 2020 Dec 15;18(12):644. doi: 10.3390/md18120644

Table 1.

Literature review of encapsulation systems for food applications of the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis, its extracts, or bioactive compounds.

Core Substance Coating Material Encapsulation Technique/System Application Major Findings Reference
Disrupted cells Maillard reaction products Spray dryer Functional food

  • Stability improvement

  • Better water dispersibility

 [143]
Homogenized cells Chitosan Immersion Functional food

  • Stability improvement under different storage conditions.

 [144]
Astaxanthin or carotenoid extract Polymerpoly(hydroxybutirate-co-hydroxyvalerat)(PHB) Supercritical fluids (SEDS) Functional food and pharmaceutical

  • Precipitation pressure had a higher influence on the formed particle size.

  • Higher encapsulation efficiency is achieved when using higher biomass: dichloromethane ratio (10 mg mL−1) at the carotenoid extraction step.

 [145,146]
Extract oleoresin Capsul Spray-dryer Functional food

  • Thermal stability improvement.

 [147]
Astaxanthin-enriched oil Sodium alginate and low-methoxyl pectin Vibrating-nozzle extrusion technology Functional food

  • After one year of storage at different light, temperature, and oxygen conditions exposure, the microparticles were able to preserve the astaxanthin content ranging from 38% to 94%, with the highest result found when they were kept at lower temperatures.

 [148]
Astaxanthin

  • Chitosan

  • Carrageenan

  • Calcium alginate

  • Nanoemulsion

  • Extrusion

 Functional food

  • Higher photoprotection was found for the nanoemulsion without polymeric coating.

  • Chitosan beads provided higher protection to astaxanthin than alginate beads.

 [149]
Lipid extract Ulvan-pullulan Electrospinning Functional food

  • High encapsulation efficiency in the developed nanofibers, of around 90% for carotenoids and PUFAs.

  • Promising protection of the lipid fraction of H. pluvialis encapsulated in a natural matrix composed of water-based polysaccharides.

 [51]
Astaxanthin

  • Poly(ethylene oxide)-4-methoxycinnamoylphthaloylchitosan (PCPLC)

  • Poly(vinylalcohol-co-vinyl-4-methoxycinnamate)

  • Ethylcellulose (EC)

 Polymeric nanospheres by solvent displacement Functional food and pharmaceutical

  • Only PCPLC was suitable to form nanospheres.

  • Greater improvement of astaxanthin thermal stability upon PCPLC nanoencapsulation.

 [150]
Astaxanthin Calcium-Alginate Extrusion Functional food and pharmaceutical

  • Temperature is the most influential environmental factor in astaxanthin degradation.

  • Encapsulation improved astaxanthin thermal stability even after 21 days of storage at room temperature.

 [151]
Astaxanthin oleoresin Gum arabic and whey protein, alone or in combination with maltodextrin or inulin Spray-dryer Functional food

  • Microcapsules with 100% whey protein exhibited the highest colour and antioxidant stability.

  • The turbidity retention of the microcapsules in aqueous dispersions depended on the pH and the carrier.

 [152]
Astaxanthin oleoresin Calcium-Alginate External ionic gelation Functional food

  • The diameter of oleoresin-loaded beads showed a strong dependence with alginate concentration and alginate/oleoresin ratio.

  • Encapsulation yield was markedly affected by surfactant and alginate concentrations.

  • The mathematical models developed can be used to predict the characteristics of natural astaxanthin-loaded microcapsules under different process conditions.

 [153]
Astaxanthin

  • Soy phosphatidylcholine

  • Cholesterol

 Liposomes Functional food

  • Astaxanthin exhibited a high retention rate in the liposomes after 15 days of storage at 4 °C.

  • Cholesterol

  • Enhancement of the antioxidant activity.

 [154]
Astaxanthin oleoresin

  • Glyceryl behenate

  • Oleic acid

  • Lecithin

 Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) (melt-emulsification/ultrasonication technique) Beverages (whey and non-alcoholic beer)

  • No astaxanthin loss and particle size growth were observed in the astaxanthin-NLCs-added whey after the storage time.

  • Stability improvement of the NLCs in non-pasteurized CO2-free beer at low storage temperature.

  • The organoleptic quality of NLCs-added beers was considered acceptable by the evaluators.

 [155]
Astaxanthin oleoresin

  • Culled banana resistant starch

  • Soy protein isolate

 Emulsification Functional food and pharmaceutical

  • Emulsions prepared with the starch-soy protein conjugate as wall material showed better physical and electrical stability compared to the one prepared only with soy protein.

  • Stability improvement at different storage temperatures (6, 20, and 37 °C).

 [156]
Astaxanthin Poly (l-lactic acid) Supercritical anti-solvent Functional food and pharmaceutical

  • Stability improvement during 6 months of storage at different temperatures in comparison with free astaxanthin.

  • Lower degradation rates were found at lower temperatures.

 [157]
Astaxanthin oleoresin

  • Whey protein (WPI)

  • Xanthan gum (XG)

 Emulsification Functional food

  • The addition of XG significantly increased emulsion stability in comparison to emulsions stabilized by WPI alone.

  • Emulsified astaxanthin showed higher stability at lower temperatures during 15 days of storage.

  • The combination of WPI-XG reduced the digestion and release of astaxanthin in comparison to the emulsion system stabilized by WPI alone.

 [158]
Esterified astaxanthin

  • Whey protein

  • Arabic gum

 Complex coacervation Functional food and pharmaceutical

  • Stability improvement and greater in vitro release rate compared to astaxanthin oleoresin.

  • Enhancement of astaxanthin bioavailability.

 [159]
Astaxanthin oleoresin

  • Precirol ATO 5

  • Stearic acid

 Nanostructured lipid carriers (hot homogenization) Functional food

  • NLCs were stable for at least 180 days at 4 °C and were capable of protecting astaxanthin antioxidant activity.

  • NLCs exhibited in vitro capacity to protect human endothelial cells from ROS.

 [160]
Astaxanthin extract

  • Sodium dode-cyl sulfate

  • Decaglycerol monolaurate

  • Decaglyc-erol monooleate

 Microchannel emulsification Functional food and pharmaceutical

  • O/W emulsion droplets remained stable at 25 °C with an encapsulation efficiency of over 98%, during 15 days storage period.

  • The emulsification process was highly dependent on the emulsifier and extract types used.

 [161]
Astaxanthin oleoresin

  • Maltodextrin

  • Gelatine

 Complex coacervation followed by spray dryer Functional food

  • The microencapsulated astaxanthin maintained its antioxidant activity after spray drying, with higher values than vitamin C.

 [162]
Astaxanthin

  • Modified lecithin (ML)

  • Sodium caseinate (SC)

 Nanoemulsion (high-pressure homogenization) Functional beverages

  • SC-stabilized nanoemulsions showed good physicochemical stability (>70%) after 30 days of storage.

  • Astaxanthin bioavailability was strongly influenced by the emulsifier used.

 [163]
Astaxanthin

  • Blends of milk protein (whey protein isolate, or sodium caseinate)

  • Soluble corn fibre

 Spray dryer Functional food

  • The developed microparticles demonstrated reasonably good water activity, surface morphology, encapsulation efficiency, and oxidative stability.

  • Reconstituted emulsions showed good stability similar to the initial emulsions.

 [164]
Astaxanthin

  • Tween 20

  • Whey protein isolate

 Premix membrane emulsification Functional food

  • The selected emulsification method was able to produce emulsions with remarkably narrow droplet size distributions.

  • The astaxanthin emulsion was physically stable over 3 weeks of storage and it was able to preserve 70% of the astaxanthin content during this time.

 [165]
Astaxanthin

  • Chitosan

  • Salmon sperm DNA

 Co-assembly Functional food and pharmaceutical

  • Nanoparticles showed more powerful antioxidant activity than free astaxanthin, by improving the cytoprotective effect and ROS scavenging efficiency on H2O2-induced oxidative cell damage in Caco-2 cells.

  • Enhancement of the cellular uptake efficiency.

 [166]
Astaxanthin

  • Arabic gum

  • Xanthan gum

  • Pectin

  • Methylcellulose

 Emulsification- solvent evaporation Functional food

  • Physicochemical characteristics of the nanodispersions were significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by the type and chemical structure of the polysaccharides used.

  • Nanodispersions produced and stabilized with Arabic gum presented the smallest particle size and highest physical stability.

 [167]
Astaxanthin

  • β-lactoglobulin

  • Chitosan

 Spontaneous self-assembly Functional food

  • Stability and antioxidant activity improvement under acid treatment, high temperatures, and UV radiation.

  • Chitosan coating was capable of providing a surface barrier to delay the release and degradation of astaxanthin in the gastrointestinal tract.

 [168]
Astaxanthin oleoresin Whey protein concentrate Emulsification-Solvent evaporation Functional food

  • Resuspended nanoparticles (NPs) in water exhibited superior stability than free oleoresin under extreme pH, high temperature, UV radiation, and metal-induced oxidation

  • Simulated digestion of NPs showed high astaxanthin bioaccessibility.

 [169]