Utilization of Nanotechnology to Improve the Application of Phytosterols

Interest in preparing foods to improve the overall human health and wellness is growing with the trending food for health concept. Among bioactive compounds, phytosterols have received much attention in managing hypercholesterolemia, or abnormally high blood cholesterol, and recently inflammation and inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. Bioavailability of phytosterols is very low due to poor water solubility and high crystallinity. Decreasing the size of bioactives is known to increase the bioaccessibility and in turn the bioavailability. In recent years, there have been many efforts to decrease the size of phytosterols. This review investigates the chemical classification and bioavailability of phytosterols and also provides a description for nano-delivery systems of them to improve their therapeutic applications phytosterol nanoparticles.