Journal of Functional Foods (Jan 2009)

Bioequivalence of encapsulated and microencapsulated fish-oil supplementation

  • Colin J. Barrow,
  • Coleen Nolan,
  • Bruce J. Holub

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 1, no. 1
pp. 38 – 43

Abstract

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Omega-3 oil from fish can be stabilised against oxidation using a variety of microencapsulation technologies. Complex coacervation has been used and found to be commercially useful for fortifying foods and beverages with long-chain omega-3 containing oils. Here we report a comparative human bioavailability study of microencapsulated omega-3 fish oil and standard fish-oil soft-gel capsules. Phospholipid levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids increased equivalently in both subjects groups. Also, triacylglycerol levels were reduced similarly in both groups. These results indicate that omega-3 fatty acids have equivalent bioavailability when delivered as microencapsulated complex coacervates or as soft-gel capsules.

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