Nanotechnology is an emerging field in the food industry that will be important for future industrial production to address rising customer concerns and expectations for natural, nutritious, and healthful food items. People are increasingly motivated to purchase unprocessed food or even high-quality processed foods with minimum chemical additives, highlighting the need to investigate natural alternatives for commercial purposes. Natural compounds are becoming more popular among consumers since they are safer than synthetic chemical additions; however, their most functional compounds are sensitive to the adverse conditions of processing and the digestive tract, impairing their use in food matrices, and industrial-scale applications. Nowadays, nanoencapsulation of natural products can be the most suitable nanotechnology to improve stability, solubility, and bioavailability. The nanostructure can be incorporated into food during production, processing, packaging, and security. Despite the many studies on nanoencapsulation, there is still some misunderstanding about nanoencapsulation systems and preparation techniques. This review aims to categorize different nanoencapsulation techniques (chemical, physicochemical, and physicomechanical), highlight eco-friendly methods, and classify the nanoencapsulation systems as groups (polymer, lipidic and metallic). The current review summarizes recent data on the nanoencapsulation of natural compounds in the food industry that has been published since 2015 until now. Finally, this review presents the challenges and future perspectives on the nanoencapsulation of bioactive compounds in food science.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 has spread rapidly since its discovery in December 2019 in the Chinese province of Hubei, reaching this day all the continents. This scourge is, unfortunately, in lineage with various dangerous outbreaks such as Ebola, Cholera, Spanish flu, American seasonal flu. Until today, the best solution for the moment remains prevention (Social distancing, hand disinfection, use of masks, partial or total sanitary containment, etc.); there is also the emergence of drug treatment (research and development, clinical trials, use on patients). Recent reviews emphasized the role of membrane lipids in the infectivity mechanism of SARS-COV-2. Cholesterol-rich parts of cell membranes serve as docking places of host cells for the viruses. Coronavirus 2 is a member of a virus family with lipid envelope that fuses with host cell through endocytosis, internalizing its components in the cell. In vitro cell models have shown that depletion of cholesterol by cyclodextrin, and particularly methyl beta cyclodextrin disturb the host cell membrane lipid composition this way, reducing the attachment of the virus to the protein receptors. This review aims to summarize the state of the art of research concerning the use of cyclodextrin or its complexes as a potential treatment against this new virus and update work already published.

Background: Alpha-tocopherol is a potent antioxidant involved in sperm protection particularly during cryopreservation. However, its poor solubility limits the optimal protection in aqueous solutions. Objective: The aim of this study was to enhance the solubility of α-tocopherol by the use of liposomes. Methods: The experimental approach consisted to load vitamin E in liposomes prepared by ethanol injection method and the optimization carried out by an experimental design. The optimum solution was characterized by high performance liquid chromatography and scanning electron microscope. Finely, the impact on sperm motility protection was studied by the freezing technic of bovine sperm. Results: The optimum solution was obtained when using 10.9 mg/ml of phospholipids, 1.7 mg/ml of cholesterol and 2 mg/ml of vitamin E. The liposome size was 99.86 nm, providing 78.47% of loaded efficiency. The results showed also a significant positive impact on sperm motility after hours of preservation. Conclusion: In conclusion, the current results showed the interest of liposome preparation as an alternative to enhance vitamin E solubility and to protect spermatozoa during cryopreservation.