Delivery systems for bioactive ingredients in functional foods support healthy aging: Advances and Challenges

With the accelerated global population aging, the elderly are confronted with multiple health challenges including oxidative stress, impaired digestive function, gut dysbiosis and micronutrient deficiencies, rendering functional foods a vital intervention to improve their quality of life. This review systematically sorts out the mechanisms of action and health benefits of four major bioactive components in nutritional functional foods for the elderly, namely polyphenols, bioactive peptides, probiotics and vitamins. It further focuses on analyzing research advances in delivery systems such as emulsions, microcapsules, hydrogels and liposomes for enhancing the stability, bioavailability and targeted release of these bioactives. Additionally, it elaborates on the current research landscape of four categories of functional foods categorized by efficacy: cholesterol-lowering, antioxidant, gut health-improving and antihypertensive products. Although available evidence demonstrates the promising potential of these strategies, prominent limitations remain regarding the long-term safety of delivery carriers, sensory acceptability, industrialized production and regulatory standards when applied to the special geriatric population. Future research should leverage multi-omics technologies to facilitate the development of personalized formulations and strengthen clinical validation targeting elderly individuals with multimorbidity, so as to achieve effective translation from laboratory investigations to practical nutritional interventions.