Food Matrix Effects on Plant-Derived Bioactive Compounds and Micronutrients: Implications for Functional Food Development
5 affiliations
- 1Chemical Engineering Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
- 2POSS-Driving Innovation in Functional Foods IKE, 54640 Thessaloniki, Greece
- 3Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Peloponesse, 24100 Kalamata, Greece
- 4Chemical Engineering Department, University of Western Macedonia, 50150 Kozani, Greece
- 5Department of Agriculture Crop Production and Rural Environment, School of Agriculture Sciences, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, Greece
Abstract
Even though the functional food market has rapidly increased in recent years, the links between bioactive-rich formulations and consumers’ health benefit are not fully established, mainly because of insufficient consideration of food matrix effects. This review provides a comprehensive and integrated evaluation of how food matrix properties (structural and physicochemical) affect the bioaccessibility of plant bioactive compounds. Unlike many reviews that focus on a single nutrient approach, we highlight quantitative evidence of how bioaccessibility can be affected by matrix properties, illustrating the interactions between main food components (lipids, proteins, dietary fiber and minerals). This review integrates fragmented information among different areas of food and nutrition sciences, i.e., food structure, gastrointestinal science, mineral chemistry, protein chemistry, providing a holistic framework for Quality by Design (QbD) functional food development. Synergisms and antagonistic behaviors, threshold effects, and concentration-dependent behaviors are analyzed comparatively for the most common plant-derived bioactives, such as polyphenols, carotenoids, curcuminoids and minerals (iron, zinc and calcium). We propose a matrix-informed optimization as a prerequisite for credible health claims and sustainable plant-based nutrition strategies. This can ultimately serve as a foundation for next-generation functional food development based on bioaccessibility, supporting the central argument that functional food development should move from composition-based fortification to bioaccessibility-based matrix engineering.
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BibTeX
@article{vareltzis2026food,
title = {{Food Matrix Effects on Plant-Derived Bioactive Compounds and Micronutrients: Implications for Functional Food Development}},
author = {Patroklos K Vareltzis and Smaro Kyroglou and Evangelia Pasidi and Georgios Oikonomou and Thetis Gkogkou and Maria Govari and Konstantinos G. Kalogiannis and Olga Gortzi},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27125503},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27125503},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Food Matrix Effects on Plant-Derived Bioactive Compounds and Micronutrients: Implications for Functional Food Development
AU - Patroklos K Vareltzis
AU - Smaro Kyroglou
AU - Evangelia Pasidi
AU - Georgios Oikonomou
AU - Thetis Gkogkou
AU - Maria Govari
AU - Konstantinos G. Kalogiannis
AU - Olga Gortzi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/18
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27125503
UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27125503
AB - Even though the functional food market has rapidly increased in recent years, the links between bioactive-rich formulations and consumers’ health benefit are not fully established, mainly because of insufficient consideration of food matrix effects. This review provides a comprehensive and integrated evaluation of how food matrix properties (structural and physicochemical) affect the bioaccessibility of plant bioactive compounds. Unlike many reviews that focus on a single nutrient approach, we highlight quantitative evidence of how bioaccessibility can be affected by matrix properties, illustrating the interactions between main food components (lipids, proteins, dietary fiber and minerals). This review integrates fragmented information among different areas of food and nutrition sciences, i.e., food structure, gastrointestinal science, mineral chemistry, protein chemistry, providing a holistic framework for Quality by Design (QbD) functional food development. Synergisms and antagonistic behaviors, threshold effects, and concentration-dependent behaviors are analyzed comparatively for the most common plant-derived bioactives, such as polyphenols, carotenoids, curcuminoids and minerals (iron, zinc and calcium). We propose a matrix-informed optimization as a prerequisite for credible health claims and sustainable plant-based nutrition strategies. This can ultimately serve as a foundation for next-generation functional food development based on bioaccessibility, supporting the central argument that functional food development should move from composition-based fortification to bioaccessibility-based matrix engineering.
SN - 1422-0067
SN - 1661-6596
ER -