Table 3.

Literature review of encapsulation systems for pharmaceutical applications of bioactives from the microalga H. pluvialis.

Core Substance	Coating Material	Encapsulation Technique/System	Application	Major Findings	Reference
Astaxanthin rich-extract	Cellulose acetate (CA)	Electrospinning	Antiaging	Astaxanthin extract-loaded CA nanofibers exhibited potential against oxidative stress of C. elegans with significant values. In vitro release assay showed a prolonged profiled. The stability of the nanofibers was significantly higher compared to that of the free extract under accelerated conditions.	[201]
Astaxanthin	Calcium alginate	Double emulsification	Hepato carcinoma	Microparticles formed had a good degree of roundness, dispersity, encapsulation efficiency, and pH responsiveness to avoid gastric degradation. Cellular studies demonstrated that encapsulated astaxanthin could inhibit hepatoma cells (HepG2 cell line) but it had relatively small or no impact on control hepatocytes (THLE-2 cell line).	[204]
Astaxanthin	Egg-yolk phosphatidylcholine	Liposomes	Lipoperoxidation inhibition	Astaxanthin strongly reduced lipid damage when different lipoperoxidation promoters were added simultaneously to the liposomes.	[205]
Astaxanthin	Methoxypolyethyleneglycol-polycaprolactone (mPEG-PCL) copolymer	Micelles (self-assembly)	Proliferation and differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells	Mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) differentiation results showed that 20 ng/mL astaxanthin-loaded polymeric micelles enhanced adipogenesis, chondrogenesis, and osteogenesis of MSCs by 52%, 106%, and 182%, respectively.	[206]
Astaxanthin	Cholesterol l-phosphatidylcholine	Liposomes	Hepatoprotection	Hepatoprotective and acute anti-inflammatory effects of the astaxanthin-loaded liposomes were confirmed by in vivo assay, being even superior to the positive control (N-acetylcysteine).	[202]
Astaxanthin	Cholesterol L-phosphatidylcholine	Liposomes	Antioxidant	Encapsulated astaxanthin activated more effectively antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione S-transferase than its free form. Astaxanthin-loaded liposomes presented higher stability and in vitro bioavailability improvement when compared to the free molecule.	[207]
Astaxanthin	Ascorbyl palmitate	Nanoemulsion	Sublingual drug delivery	The developed nanoemulsion exhibited good uniformity dispersion and very low particle size. In vitro sublingual permeation studies showed that liposomes, together with this alternative route, are a promising alternative to enhance the bioavailability and therapeutic effect of astaxanthin.	[208]
Astaxanthin and α-tocopherol	Sodium caseinate	Nanoemulsion (spontaneous emulsification-ultrasonication)	Anticancer	Encapsulated astaxanthin was able to induce ROS generation and apoptosis through the apoptotic signalling pathway, in the nucleus and cytoplasm, as well as disrupt the mitochondrial membrane, in cancer cells.	[209]
Carotenoid-rich extract	Poly-lactide-co-glycolide	Polymeric nanocapsules by solvent displacement	Antioxidant	The carotenoids in their encapsulated form exhibited an antioxidant potential higher than the free extract and 9-fold higher when compared to ascorbic acid. The developed nanocapsules suspension when incorporated into a hydrogel showed a sustained release profile, with a higher release percentage when compared to the same formulation with the free extract.	[210]