A review on phytosomes as innovative delivery systems for phytochemicals

Abstract

Nowadays, medicinal herbs and their phytochemicals have emerged as great therapeutic options for many disorders. However, poor bioavailability and selectivity might limit their clinical application. Therefore, bioavailability is considered a notable challenge to improving bio-efficacy in transporting dietary phytochemicals. Different methods have been proposed for generating effective carrier systems to enhance the bioavailability of Phytochemicals. Among them, nano-vesicles have been introduced as promising candidates for the delivery of insoluble phytochemicals. Due to the easy preparation of the bilayer vesicles and their adaptability, they have been widely used and approved by the scientific literature. The first part of the review is focused on introducing pyrosomes technology as well as its applications, with emphasis on principles of formulations and characterization. The second part provides a wide overview of the biological activities of commercial and non-commercial pyrosomes, divided by systems and related pathologies. These results confirm the greater effectiveness of pyrosomes, both in terms of biological activity or reduced dosage, high-lighting curcumin, and Silymarin as the most formulated compounds. Finally, we describe the promising clinical and experimental findings regarding the applications of pyrosomes. The conclusion of this study encourages the researchers to transfer their knowledge from laboratories to the market, for further development of these products.