Modulation of the carotenoid bioaccessibility through liposomal encapsulation

The low bioaccessibility of carotenoids is currently a challenge to their incorporation in pharmaceutics, nutraceuticals and functional foods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the modulating effects of liposome encapsulation on the bioaccessibility, and its relationship with carotenoid structure and incorporated concentration. The physical stability of liposomes, lipid digestibility, carotenoids release and bioaccessibility were investigated during incubation in a simulated gastrointestinal tract. Analysis on the liposome size and morphology showed that after digestion, the majority of particles maintained spherical shape with only an increase of size in liposomes loading β-carotene or lutein. However, a large proportion of heterogeneous particles were visible in the micelle phase of liposomes loading lycopene or canthaxanthin. It was also found that the release of lutein and β-carotene from liposomes was inhibited in a simulated gastric fluid, while was slow and sustained in a simulated intestinal fluid. By contrast, lycopene and canthaxanthin exhibited fast and considerable release in the gastrointestinal media. Both carotenoid bioaccessibility and micellization content decreased with the increase of incorporated concentration. Anyway, the bioaccessibility of carotenoids after encapsulated in liposomes was in the following order: lutein>β-carotene>lycopene>canthaxanthin. Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that carotenoid bioaccessibility depended strongly on the incorporating ability of carotenoids into a lipid bilayer, loading content, and nature of the system.