A Review of Protein-Lipids/Polysaccharides as a Delivery System of Bioactives in Food: Formation Mechanism and Application

Some bioactive substances are insoluble in water and have low bioavailability, which limits their application. In recent years, how to effectively deliver bioactive substances has attracted wide attention. However, the commonly used food-grade encapsulation carriers, lipids, polysaccharides and proteins, often have limitations when used alone, which limits their effectiveness in delivery systems. Coupling protein with lipid or polysaccharide is an emerging technology for the manufacture of new delivery systems. Compared with a single carrier, these multivariate conjugates have better synergistic effects in vivo, which improves stability and encapsulation efficiency of delivery systems, and can maximize the functional properties and biological activities of products. This paper mainly reviews the importance and limitations of lipids, polysaccharides and proteins as delivery systems, and horizontally compares the advantages and disadvantages between single matrix and multi-composite carrier matrix. The coupling of protein-lipid/polysaccharide binary matrix is taken as the main research object, and the coupling mechanism, coupling method and its advantages in nutrition delivery are discussed. The future research direction is also prospected.