Abstract
β-carotene (βC) is an essential nutrient for health. It is a potent antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory substance. However, βC has high hydrophobicity property, indicating a low absorption level in the digestive tract. The bioavailability of βC is reasonably low. Lipid-based delivery systems such as nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) potentially can help to overcome this problem. This research evaluated the bioaccessibility of the nanostructured mixture of palm stearin (PS) and palm olein (PO) and the antioxidant activity of βC in the structure. β-carotene bioaccessibility was studied by measuring the micellization during in vitro digestion. Antioxidants activity was measured by 2.2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline- 6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) and 2, 2 - diphenyl -1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) reduction methods. In vitro gastrointestinal digestion model indicated that nanostructured lipid carrier enhanced bioaccessibility and antioxidants activity of βC. This suggests that the formulated NLC system can be used effectively to deliver lipophilic bioactive such as βC in beverage products.