Pectin-Based Encapsulation Systems for Bioactive Components

Pectin is a soluble dietary fiber with several health benefits, such as antibacterial, antioxidant, gastrointestinal-protective, and anticancer properties. Pectin is becoming an important class of materials owing to their inherent structural and functional properties such as biodegradability, binding potential, self-assembly, high nutritional value, gelling properties, non-toxicity, and good biocompatibility. Pectin is highly beneficial in microencapsulation since it allows for better control over the toxicity of the active substances and ensures the safety of the customer. Pectin offers a safe route for drug delivery due to its well-designed molecular architecture based on the changes in the biological process’s fundamental mechanisms. The current arising insight into the chemical structure and associated health advantages of pectin opens new opportunities for the use of pectin in nutraceutical encapsulation and drug delivery. Pectin can be obtained from various plant sources at a lower cost. Thus, pectin is a promising biopolymer when designing materials that may achieve the highly desired dual objectives of being environmentally friendly and economically sustainable. This chapter emphasizes pectin-based nano and microencapsulation systems, their tailor-made functionalities, and their applications in the pharmaceutical and food industry.