Delivery systems for fucoxanthin: Research progress, applications and future prospects

Abstract

Fucoxanthin is a special kind of keto-carotenoid found only in algae. The unique structure of fucoxanthin endows it with extraordinary biological activities, which are of great significance to improve food quality and enhance human health. However, due to its highly unsaturated structure, fucoxanthin also suffers from some limitations, such as instability, poor water solubility and low bioavailability. Therefore, although its content is relatively abundant, its applications in the food industry are extremely scarce. In recent years, there have been many reports on the preparation and characterization of delivery systems for fucoxanthin. These well-designed delivery systems can efficaciously alleviate the instability of fucoxanthin under adverse conditions, thereby improving its oral bioavailability. Thus, this review emphatically summarizes the delivery systems that are widely used to encapsulate, protect and release fucoxanthin. Besides, the influence of delivery systems on the absorption of fucoxanthin by intestinal epithelial cells is highlighted. The applications and future development trends of delivery systems for fucoxanthin are also discussed. The extraction of fucoxanthin, development of novel delivery systems, sensory evaluation and toxicity studies, and industrial production may be promising research directions in the future. Overall, this review provides guidance for the development of fucoxanthin-loaded delivery systems.

Keywords:

• Fucoxanthin
• biological activities
• nutraceutical delivery systems
• intestinal absorption
• improved bioavailability
• future prospects

Author contribution

Z. Zhang collected literature and drafted the manuscript. Z. Wei conceptualized the idea, drafted the outline, gave a guide to professional knowledge, edited and revised the article. C. Xue revised the article. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest and no competing financial interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (2022HWYQ-068). This work was also funded by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (202112006), the startup fund from Ocean University of China (grant No. 862001013134), the National Key R&D Program of China (grant No. 2018YFC0311201), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (2021M693025), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2021QC077) and Qingdao Postdoctoral Application Foundation funded project (grant No. 862005040044).