Chapter 10: Liposomes

Liposomes are spherical-shaped vesicles with great potential for food applications due to the feasibility of encapsulating both hydrophilic and hydrophobic bioactives into their amphipathic structure. An outstanding characteristic of liposomes is the possibility of encapsulating lipophilic substances in water-dispersible systems, similar to most of the existent food formulations. Over the past few years, an increasing number of publications regarding the production and characterization of liposomal systems showed that this subject can still be considered a hot topic but few studies are available on their achievable applications in foods. Also, more research is needed regarding the evaluation of the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of encapsulated bioactives in the human body, which can be also achieved using in vitro digestion analysis. Moreover, liposomes can be produced in accordance to industrial needs using easily scalable methods. Innovative methods have also been developed for this purpose, allowing a larger scale production of liposomes. Therefore, this chapter focuses on providing an overview of the main physicochemical characteristics, food applications, production methods, and characterization of liposomes. Future trends and perspectives regarding the use of liposomes in the food industry are also presented.