Guan Zhirui, Baiocco Daniele, Barros Andre, Zhang Zhibing
School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Healthcare Technology Institute, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Wiley Interdiscip Rev Nanomed Nanobiotechnol. 2025 Mar-Apr;17(2):e70009. doi: 10.1002/wnan.70009.
Hydrophilic active ingredients play a crucial role in formulated consumer products, encompassing antioxidants, flavoring substances, and pharmaceuticals. Yet, their susceptibility to environmental factors, such as light, pH, temperature, and humidity, poses challenges to their stability and sustained release. Microencapsulation offers a promising avenue to address these challenges, facilitating stabilization, targeted delivery, and enhanced efficacy of hydrophilic actives. However, despite significant advancements in the field, microencapsulation of hydrophilic actives remains at the forefront of innovation. This is primarily due to the intrinsic characteristics of hydrophilic actives, including small molecular weight and thus high permeability through many microcarriers (e.g., shells), which often necessitate complex and costly technologies to be developed. Moreover, in light of escalating regulatory frameworks, the pursuit of biodegradable and other compliant materials suitable for the entrapment of hydrophilic ingredients is gaining momentum. These advancements aim to provide alternatives to currently used non-degradable synthetic polymer materials. Research is currently pushing towards meeting these regulatory constraints via cutting-edge technologies to engineer novel microscale delivery systems for hydrophilic active ingredients, including microcapsules, microspheres, microneedles, and micropatches. Although still in its infancy, this approach holds true potential for revolutionizing the future of formulated consumer goods.
亲水性活性成分在配方消费品中起着至关重要的作用，包括抗氧化剂、调味剂和药物。然而，它们对光、pH值、温度和湿度等环境因素的敏感性对其稳定性和持续释放构成了挑战。微囊化提供了一条有前景的途径来应对这些挑战，有助于亲水性活性成分的稳定化、靶向递送和增强功效。然而，尽管该领域取得了重大进展，但亲水性活性成分的微囊化仍处于创新前沿。这主要是由于亲水性活性成分的固有特性，包括分子量小，因此通过许多微载体（如外壳）的渗透性高，这往往需要开发复杂且成本高昂的技术。此外，鉴于监管框架不断升级，寻求适合包裹亲水性成分的可生物降解及其他合规材料的势头正在增强。这些进展旨在为目前使用的不可降解合成聚合物材料提供替代方案。目前的研究正通过前沿技术努力满足这些监管限制，以设计用于亲水性活性成分的新型微尺度递送系统，包括微胶囊、微球、微针和微贴片。尽管仍处于起步阶段，但这种方法在彻底改变配方消费品的未来方面具有真正的潜力。
