Deep eutectic solvents for the food industry: extraction, processing, analysis, and packaging applications - a review.

Food factories seek the application of natural products, green feedstock and eco-friendly processes, which minimally affect the properties of the food item and products. Today, water and conventional polar solvents are used in many areas of food science and technology. As modern chemistry evolves, new green items for building eco-friendly processes are being developed. This is the case of deep eutectic solvents (DESs), named the next generation of green solvents, which can be involved in many food industries. In this review, we timely analyzed the progress on applying DES toward the development of formulations, extraction of target biomolecules, food processing, extraction of undesired molecules, analysis and determination of specific analytes in food samples (heavy metals, pesticides), food microbiology, and synthesis of new packaging materials, among many other applications. For this, the latest developments (over the last 2-3 years) have been discussed emphasizing innovative ideas and outcomes. Relevantly, we discuss the hypothesis and the key features of using DES in the mentioned applications. To some extent, the advantages and limitations of implementing DES in the food industry are also elucidated. Finally, based on the findings of this review, the perspectives, research gaps and potentialities of DESs are stated.

Rice bran protein-based delivery systems as green carriers for bioactive compounds.

Natural protein-based delivery systems have received special interest over the last few years. Different carriers are already developed in the food industry to protect, encapsulate and deliver bioactive compounds. Rice bran protein (RBP) is currently used as a carrier in encapsulating bioactives due to its excellent functional properties, great natural value, low price, good biodegradability, and biocompatibility. Recently, RBP-based carriers including emulsions, microparticles, nanoparticles, nanoemulsions, liposomes, and core-shell structures have been studied extensively in the literature. This study reviews the important characteristics of RBP in developing bioactive delivery systems. The recent progress in various modification approaches for improving RBP properties as carriers along with different types of RBP-based bioactive delivery systems is discussed. In the final part, the bioavailability and release profiles of bioactives from RBP-based carriers and the recent developments are described.