Digestion Fate and Food Applications of Emulsions as Delivery Systems for Bioactive Compounds: Challenges and Perspectives

Different emulsion systems can be used to deliver bioactive compounds: single, multiple, gel, Pickering, and high internal phase emulsions. Each of them offers advantages and challenges in terms of stability, encapsulation efficiency, and bioactive compound availability during digestion. Moreover, the different emulsion types can affect the quality characteristics of the food products in which they are used, as well as the bioactive compound availability in the complex final matrix. This review provides an overview of the most recent works in this field, divided into two main sections. The first section is focused on in vitro digestibility of emulsion-based delivery systems to highlight the factors that can affect the digestion process and bioactive compound accessibility and availability. The second section is dedicated to the applications of delivery systems in food products, underlining the need for a better evaluation of the emulsion effects on food properties and on the fate of bioactive compounds in the complex matrix. Challenges and perspectives for emulsion-based delivery systems are presented, giving suggestions for future research.