Phenolic compounds are major micronutrients in our diet,(1) and evidence for their role in the prevention of degenerative diseases such as cancer, inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases is emerging. The easily destruction against environment stresses and low bioavailability of phenolics are main limitations of their application. Therefore, nano-encapsulated phenolics as a fine delivery system can solve their restrictions. Polymeric nanoparticles and natural nano-carriers are one of the most effective and industrial techniques which can be used for protection and delivery of phenolics. In this review, preparation, application and characterization of polymeric based nano-capsules and natural nano-carriers for phenolics have been considered and discussed including polymeric nanoparticles, polymeric complex nanoparticles, cyclodextrins, nano-caseins, nanocrystals, electrospun nano-fibers, electro-sprayed nano-particles, and nano-spray dried particles. Our main goal was to cover the relevant recent studies in the past few years. Although a number of different types of polymeric and natural based nano-scale delivery systems have been developed, there are relatively poor quantitative understanding of their in vivo absorption, permeation and release. Also, performing toxicity experiments, residual solvent analysis and studying their biological fate during digestion, absorption, and excretion of polymeric nanoparticle and natural nano-carriers containing phenolics should be considered in future researches. In addition, future investigations could focus on application of phenolic nano-scale delivery systems in pharmaceuticals and functional foods.
Keywords: Nano-encapsulation; Natural nano-carriers; Phenolic compounds; Polymeric nanoparticles.
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