Carotenoids are natural lipophilic pigments and antioxidants that are present in many fruits and vegetables. The consumption of carotenoids is correlated with positive health effects and a decreased risk of several chronic diseases. Provitamin A carotenoids (β-carotene, α-carotene, γ-carotene, and β-cryptoxanthin) are essential for the development and maintenance of sight. β-carotene, α-carotene, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, and lycopene have high antioxidant activity and promote free radical scavenging, which helps protect against chronic diseases. However, carotenoids are chemically unstable and prone to oxidation in the presence of light, heat, oxygen, acids, and metal ions. The use of carotenoids in the food industry is limited due to their poor solubility in water, bioavailability and quick release. Encapsulation techniques, such as microencapsulation, nanoencapsulation and supercritical encapsulation, are used to overcome these problems. The objective of this paper is to describe the characteristics and potential health benefits of carotenoids and advances in encapsulation techniques for protecting and enhancing their solubility or bioavailability.

Carotenoids are natural pigments and antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables such as carrot, tomato, orange, mango, yellow corn, pumpkin, and mamey. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant potential of mamey ( Pouteria sapota ) carotenoids and compared them to carrot ( Daucus carota ) carotenoids. The carotenoids were extracted from mamey and carrot, and their antioxidant capacity were determined via in vitro (ABTS method) and in vivo assays (resistance against oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans ). The carotenoid contents in mamey and carrot were 4.42 ± 0.12 and 5.47 ± 0.04 mg β-carotene/100 g, respectively. Despite the differences between the carotenoid contents in both products (p < 0.05), the in vitro antioxidant capacity results showed no significant differences between the extracts (p > 0.05). The mamey and carrot carotenoid extracts decreased the oxidative damage in C. elegans by 20–30% and 30–40%, respectively. Both extracts increased the resistance and enhanced the survival of the nematodes, and showed better effects than pure β-carotene, probably owing to the complex mixture in the carotenoid extracts. These results suggest that mamey is a good alternative source of carotenoids and that it protects against oxidative stress in C. elegans . The protective effect of mamey carotenoids was similar to the effect of carrot carotenoids.

Background Carotenoids are natural pigments that are highly sensitive to light, heat, acids, oxygen, metals, and free radicals, which degrade the antioxidant activities of carotenoids. Microencapsulation techniques have been used to prevent carotenoid degradation and preserve their antioxidant activities. In this work, we aimed to encapsulate mamey (Pouteria sapota) and carrot (Daucus carota) carotenoids in mixtures of maltodextrin (10% w/v) and Arabic gum (5 or 10% w/v) by spray-drying. The obtained powders were stored at different temperatures (4 and 25 °C) with or without access to daylight, and changes in color, carotenoid content, and antioxidant activity were analyzed monthly for three months. Moreover, the in vivo antioxidant activities of spray-dried carotenoids were evaluated in Caenorhabditis elegans. Results The carotenoid and antioxidant activity losses of stored carotenoids were found in the following order: 25 °C in daylight > 25 °C without access to daylight > 4 °C without access to daylight. Moreover, the combination of maltodextrin and Arabic gum (10%) was more effective to prevent carotenoid loss compared to maltodextrin and Arabic gum (5%). In vivo antioxidant activity results showed that spray-dried carotenoids reduced approximately 30% of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in nematodes, even after three months of storage. Conclusions Mamey and carrot carotenoids were successfully encapsulated by the spray-drying technique. The spray-dried carotenoids effectively reduced the intracellular ROS levels and neutralized the oxidative stress damage in C. elegans, even after three months of storage. Moreover, the antioxidant activities of mamey carotenoids were equally effective as those of carrot carotenoids, meaning that mamey carotenoids could be seen as an alternative source of carotenoids.