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Techno-functional properties of protein isolates such as emulsification, foaming, and gelling serve as key indicators to determine their food applications. Conventional macro-volume techniques used to measure these techno-functional properties are usually time consuming, require large amounts of protein samples, and are impractical when diverse protein samples are handled at the early screening stage. To overcome these issues, we have developed scaled-down (miniaturized) assays to test techno-functional properties of protein samples. These assays are simple, efficient, and require <400 μl of protein solution. Specifically, the miniaturized emulsification and gelling assays require 25-fold less protein than conventional macro-volume techniques and the miniaturized foaming assay requires 100-fold less sample. The performance of these assays has been thoroughly validated using conventional techno-functional tests for each parameter. The protocols described herein offer high-throughput screening capabilities, accelerating the testing process for protein techno-functional properties and allowing for quick identification of samples of interest from diverse samples. © 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Miniaturized emulsification assay Alternate Protocol 1: Conventional macro-volume emulsification assay Basic Protocol 2: Miniaturized foaming assay Alternate Protocol 2: Conventional macro-volume foaming assay Basic Protocol 3: Miniaturized gelling assay Alternate Protocol 3: Conventional macro-volume gelling assay., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Highly hygroscopic pharmaceutical and nutraceutical solids are prone to significant changes in their physicochemical properties due to chemical degradation and/or solid-state transition, resulting in adverse effects on their therapeutic performances and shelf life. Moisture absorption also leads to excessive wetting of the solids, causing their difficult handling during manufacturing. In this review, four formulation strategies that have been employed to tackle hygroscopicity issues in oral solid dosage forms of pharmaceuticals/nutraceuticals were discussed. The four strategies are (1) film coating, (2) encapsulation by spray drying or coacervation, (3) co-processing with excipients, and (4) crystal engineering by co-crystallization. Film coating and encapsulation work by acting as barriers between the hygroscopic active ingredients in the core and the environment, whereas co-processing with excipients works mainly by adding excipients that deflect moisture away from the active ingredients. Co-crystallization works by altering the crystal packing arrangements by introducing stabilizing co-formers. For hygroscopic pharmaceuticals, coating and co-crystallization are the most commonly employed strategies, whereas coating and encapsulation are popular for hygroscopic nutraceuticals (e.g., medicinal herbs, protein hydrolysates). Encapsulation is rarely applied on hygroscopic pharmaceuticals, just as co-crystallization is rarely used for hygroscopic nutraceuticals. Therefore, there is potential for improved hygroscopicity reduction by exploring beyond the traditionally used strategy.

The therapeutic effects of antioxidant-loaded nanoemulsion can be often optimized by controlling the release rate in human body. Release kinetic models can be used to predict the release profile of antioxidant compounds and allow identification of key parameters that affect the release rate. It is known that one of the critical aspects in establishing a reliable release kinetic model is to understand the underlying release mechanisms. Presently, the underlying release mechanisms of antioxidants from nanoemulsion droplets are not yet fully understood. In this context, this review scrutinized the current formulation strategies to encapsulate antioxidant compounds and provide an outlook into the future of this research area by elucidating possible release mechanisms of antioxidant compounds from nanoemulsion system., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2021.)

Greater awareness of environmental sustainability has driven many industries to transition from using synthetic organic solvents to greener solvents in their manufacturing. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have emerged as a highly promising category of green solvents with well-demonstrated and wide-ranging applications, including their use as a solvent in extraction of small-molecule bioactive compounds for food and pharmaceutical applications. The use of DES as an extraction solvent of biological macromolecules, on the other hand, has not been as extensively studied. Thereby, the feasibility of employing DES for biomacromolecule extraction has not been well elucidated. To bridge this gap, this review provides an overview of DES with an emphasis on its unique physicochemical properties that make it an attractive green solvent (e.g., non-toxicity, biodegradability, ease of preparation, renewable, tailorable properties). Recent advances in DES extraction of three classes of biomacromolecules-i.e., proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids-were discussed and future research needs were identified. The importance of DES's properties-particularly its viscosity, polarity, molar ratio of DES components, and water addition-on the DES extraction's performance were discussed. Not unlike the findings from DES extraction of bioactive small molecules, DES extraction of biomacromolecules was concluded to be generally superior to extraction using synthetic organic solvents.