Vitamin C fortification: need and recent trends in encapsulation technologies

Vaibhav Kumar Maurya; Amita Shakya; David Julian McClements; Ramachandran Srinivasan; Khalid Bashir; Thiyagarajan Ramesh; Jintae Lee; Ezhaveni Sathiyamoorthi

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1229243

Vitamin C fortification: need and recent trends in encapsulation technologies

Front Nutr. 2023 Sep 7:10:1229243. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1229243. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Vaibhav Kumar Maurya^{1

2}, Amita Shakya³, David Julian McClements^{4

5}, Ramachandran Srinivasan⁶, Khalid Bashir⁷, Thiyagarajan Ramesh⁸, Jintae Lee⁹, Ezhaveni Sathiyamoorthi⁹

Affiliations

¹ Field Application Specialist, PerkinElmer, New Delhi, India.
² National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
³ Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Chhattisgarh, Raipur, India.
⁴ Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, United States.
⁵ Department of Food Science & Bioengineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁶ Centre for Ocean Research (DST-FIST Sponsored Centre), MoES-Earth Science and Technology Cell (Marine Biotechnological Studies), Sathyabama Research Park, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁷ Department of Food Technology, Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi, India.
⁸ Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

The multifaceted role of vitamin C in human health intrudes several biochemical functions that are but not limited to antioxidant activity, homoeostasis, amino acid synthesis, collagen synthesis, osteogenesis, neurotransmitter production and several yet to be explored functions. In absence of an innate biosynthetic pathway, humans are obligated to attain vitamin C from dietary sources to maintain its optimal serum level (28 μmol/L). However, a significant amount of naturally occurring vitamin C may deteriorate due to food processing, storage and distribution before reaching to the human gastrointestinal tract, thus limiting or mitigating its disease combating activity. Literature acknowledges the growing prevalence of vitamin C deficiency across the globe irrespective of geographic, economic and population variations. Several tools have been tested to address vitamin C deficiency, which are primarily diet diversification, biofortification, supplementation and food fortification. These strategies inherit their own advantages and limitations. Opportunely, nanotechnology promises an array of delivery systems providing encapsulation, protection and delivery of susceptible compounds against environmental factors. Lack of clear understanding of the suitability of the delivery system for vitamin C encapsulation and fortification; growing prevalence of its deficiency, it is a need of the hour to develop and design vitamin C fortified food ensuring homogeneous distribution, improved stability and enhanced bioavailability. This article is intended to review the importance of vitamin C in human health, its recommended daily allowance, its dietary sources, factors donating to its stability and degradation. The emphasis also given to review the strategies adopted to address vitamin c deficiency, delivery systems adopted for vitamin C encapsulation and fortification.

Keywords: antioxidant; delivery system; encapsulation technique; fortification; stability; vitamin C.

Publication types

Review