Current Advances in Multifunctional Nanocarriers Based on Marine Polysaccharides for Colon Delivery of Food Polyphenols.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been considered as a chronic disease that is difficult to cure and needs lifelong treatment. Marine polysaccharides with good biocompatibility and biodegradability, mucoadhesion, sensitivity to external stimuli, and targeting ability can be used as wall materials for oral colon-targeted delivery of polyphenols in nutrition intervention of IBD. This manuscript reviewed the latest progress in the design, preparation, and characterization of marine polysaccharides-derived multifunctional nanocarriers for polyphenol colon delivery. Chitosan, sodium alginate, chondroitin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid were discussed in the preparation of polyphenol delivery systems. The design strategy, synthesis methods, and structure characterization of multifunctional polyphenol carriers including stimuli-responsive nanocarriers, mucoadhesive and mucus-penetrating nanocarriers, colon targeted nanocarriers, and bioactive compounds codelivery nanocarriers were reviewed in the alleviation of IBD. The research perspectives in the preparation and characterization of delivery carriers using marine polysaccharide as materials were proposed for their potential application in food bioactive components.