Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Phases for the Formulation of Future Functional Foods

Nanostructures Formulation for Food Products: Advances in soft matter nanotechnology are increasingly being realised to offer smart and generic solutions in various production fields including food and agriculture industries [1]. In recent years there have been several studies reporting on nano medicinal applications of Lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLC) phases like in development of novel contrast enhancers for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [2,3]. Within the food and pharmaceutical research, LLC nano materials have shown potentials in the development of novel delivery systems [4-6]. These nanostructures are self-assemblies of naturally occurring surfactant-like lipid molecules which are closely related to those observed in biological membranes and empower the formation of efficient delivery matrices due to their impressive characteristics [6]: (i) their great interfacial area per volume ratio allow high compound loads; (ii) sustained or controlled release of compounds is supported due to their special and tuneable narrow channel networks (typically, few nano meters thick water-channels); (iii) loading of bioactive molecules with different physicochemical properties is possible, e.g., highly water-insoluble nutraceuticals can be incorporated; (iv) their effective encapsulation capabilities enhance the stability, improve bioavailability and reduce possible toxicity of administered drugs, and (v) their good bio membrane absorption properties increase the compounds transdermal penetration.