Fortifying Foods Using Encapsulated Water-Soluble Vitamins: Enhancing the Application and Efficacy of Folate (Vitamin B9) and Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).

As "hidden hunger" continues to pose a global challenge, micronutrient deficiencies have raised widespread public health concerns. Water-soluble vitamins, such as folate and vitamin C, face challenges in nutritional interventions because their stability and bioavailability are compromised during processing, storage, and digestion. This article reviews the role of delivery systems in food fortification with water-soluble vitamins, focusing on their structural characteristics and nutritional functions, as well as their absorption and metabolism in the human body. It summarizes the construction methods of various types of delivery systems, such as gels and nanoparticles, and analyzes their potential to improve the stability and absorption of water-soluble vitamins. To address emerging precision nutrition applications, this paper also emphasizes the importance of delivery systems in meeting individualized nutritional needs, and proposes future research directions in this area. An important aim of this article is to provide the theoretical support required for the efficient use of water-soluble vitamins, and generate new insights for nutritional intervention and health management, so as to promote progress in the field of public health.