Food traceability and valorization of bioactive molecules for advanced delivery system

Proper nutrition is essential for ensuring overall well-being and preventing numerous chronic diseases. Selecting high-quality foods, rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds, is fundamental for maintaining physiological balance and promoting a healthy lifestyle. In this context, the geographical traceability of food products plays a crucial role: accurately knowing the origin and characteristics of a product allows not only to guarantee food safety but also to ensure authenticity, quality, and transparency throughout the entire production chain. Moreover, traceability enhances territorial specificities, protects local agricultural traditions, and encourages sustainable practices that respect the environment and preserve biodiversity. At the same time, food waste (often caused by overproduction and inefficiencies along the supply chain) represents a significant environmental and social challenge. The innovative recycling of food by-products offers a promising solution: transforming waste into valuable ingredients for industrial applications not only reduces environmental impact but also contributes to the conservation of natural resources. The food industry generates large amounts of by-products (such as peels, seeds, stems, and fruit and vegetable pulp) that are often discarded despite being rich in bioactive compounds including antioxidants, fibres, proteins, and essential fatty acids. Recovering and valorising these materials enables the development of innovative products in the food, pharmaceutical, and agricultural sectors. Among the most relevant bioactive compounds found in foods are polyphenols, a widespread class of natural antioxidants. From a biological perspective, polyphenols are substances capable of preventing or slowing cellular oxidative damage caused by reactive species such as free radicals and nitrogen and oxygen oxides. Due to these properties, they have become the focus of extensive research as therapeutic agents integrated into innovative drug delivery systems, which improve their stability, bioavailability, and controlled release at target tissues, thereby enhancing their efficacy while reducing side effects. The challenge of synthesizing formulations for drug delivery has also involved purely synthetic molecules, particularly corticosteroids used in the treatment of inflammatory ocular diseases.