Encapsulation Techniques for Phenolic Compounds

Abstract

Phenolic compounds are valuable compounds possessing scavenging and complexing properties towards proteins. These abilities make them interesting for the treatment of various diseases like cancer, and for anti-ageing purposes in cosmetic formulations, or nutraceutical applications. Unfortunately, these compounds lack long-term stability, making them very sensitive to light and heat. Moreover, phenolics often present a poor dispersion, mainly due to low water solubility. Lastly, many of these molecules possess a very astringent and bitter taste, which limits their use in food. Encapsulation would appear to be a promising approach to circumvent these drawbacks. Many encapsulation methods are described in this article, among which some have been successfully applied to plant phenolic compounds. After a general presentation of the chemical structure of widely famous phenolic compounds, encapsulation processes applied to polyphenols are reviewed. After a brief description of each encapsulation process, their applications to polyphenol encapsulation for garment, food and cosmetic purposes are presented.