β-Lactoglobulin-Based Nano and Microparticulate Systems for the Protection and Delivery of Bioactives

The new paradigms in human nutrition and the ever-increasing consumer demand for safe and healthy food products have encouraged research in functional foods and nutraceuticals as pharmaceutical surrogates. Food proteins are abundant and from renewable sources, with functional groups conferring interesting structural and functional properties. Their ability to bind small ligands and to form aggregates and electrostatic complexes with other food macromolecules provides numerous applications for oral delivery technology. The current review focuses on the major milk protein β-lactoglobulin, its techno-functional properties and its applications in the formulation of nano- and micro-sized oral delivery platforms.