Recent advances in oral delivery systems of resveratrol: foreseeing their use in functional foods

Herein, we review the current state-of-the-art on the use of micro- and nano-delivery systems, a possible solution to some of the drawbacks associated with the incorporation of resveratrol in foods. Specifically, we present an overview of a wide range of micro-nanostructures, namely, lipidic and polymeric, used for the delivery of resveratrol. Also, the gastrointestinal fate of resveratrol-loaded micro-nanostructures, as a critical parameter for their use as functional food, is explored in terms of stability, bioaccessibility, and bioavailability. Different micro-nanostructures are of interest for the development of functional foods given that they can provide different advantages and properties to these foods and even be tailor-made to address specific issues (e.g., controlled or targeted release). Therefore, we discuss a wide range of micro-nanostructures, namely, lipidic and polymeric, used to deliver resveratrol and aimed at the development of functional foods. It has been reported that the use of some production methodologies can be of greater interest than others, for example, emulsification, solvent displacement and electrohydrodynamic processing (EHDP) enable a greater increase in bioaccessibility. Additionally, the use of coatings facilitates further improvements in bioaccessibility, which is likely due to the increased gastric stability of the coated micro-nanostructures. Other properties, such as mucoadhesion, can also help improve bioaccessibility due to the increase in gut retention time. Additionally, cytotoxicity (e.g., biocompatibility, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory) and possible sensorial impact of resveratrol-loaded micro- and nano-systems in foods are highlighted.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit, and by LABBELS – Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020. This work was funded by the SbDtoolBox – Nanotechnology-based tools and tests for Safer-by-Design nanomaterials, with the reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000047, funded by Norte 2020 – North Regional Operational Programme under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The research also received funding from the European Union’s H2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement N 778388 (H2020 MSCA-RISE-2017) project Food for Diabetes and Cognition (FODIAC), and grant agreement N713640 (MSCA-2015-COFUND-FP). Pedro Silva is the recipient of a fellowship (SFRD/BD/130247/2017) supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, (FCT, Portugal). Graphical abstract was created with BioRender.com