Exploring strategies to enhance anthocyanin bioavailability and bioaccessibility in food: A literature review

Anthocyanins are phenolic compounds with remarkable antioxidant capacity, known for their wide range of health benefits for consumers. However, its instability is a challenge during digestion, resulting in losses in the gastrointestinal tract. To effectively harness the health potential of anthocyanins, it is essential to improve their bioaccessibility and bioavailability. This review explores strategies that can be employed to improve the stability of anthocyanins in food systems and during digestion. The article investigates how co-ingestion, processing, and different microencapsulation techniques mainly affect the in vitro bioaccessibility of anthocyanins. Co-ingestion with matrices rich in lipids and carotenoids improved the bioaccessibility of some anthocyanins, while the presence of pectin and casein affected them in variable ways. Cooking processing can lead to softening of the food matrix, resulting in increased bioaccessibility. Encapsulation techniques stand out, supported by several studies that show promising results, presenting themselves as a solution to these challenges. However, most studies have been limited to in vitro experiments, emphasizing the need for additional in vivo investigations to fully understand the impact of these strategies in the physiological context.