Cyclodextrins for UV Protection in Food, Beverages, and Agricultural Products: A Comprehensive Review

Background: Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) poses a significant threat to the stability and shelf-life of food, beverages, and agricultural products. This exposure leads to the degradation of sensitive compounds, resulting in reduced nutritional value, altered physical properties, and compromised products safety. Cyclodextrins (CDs), which possess a unique molecular structure with a hydrophobic cavity and a hydrophilic exterior, offer a promising solution by forming complexes with UVR absorbers. This inclusion complex formation enhances the stability, solubility, and bioavailability of sensitive compounds, thereby providing a protective mechanism against UVR-induced degradation. Aims: This review comprehensively examines the applications of cyclodextrin-UVR absorber complexes for protecting food, beverages, and agricultural products from UVR-induced damage. Methods: The methodology involved a comprehensive review of existing literature from scientific databases to analyze the efficacy of CD inclusion complex formation, their protective effects, and potential industrial applications. Results: The findings indicate that these complexes significantly enhance the stability of UVR-sensitive compounds across all three sectors. In food, CDs protect essential nutrients including vitamins and antioxidants from degradation, prevent oxidation, and improve packaging technologies. For beverages, they stabilize color, flavor, and aroma compounds, preserving their quality over extended shelf-life periods. In agriculture, cyclodextrins mitigate the adverse effects of UVR exposure, protecting pigments and nutrients while improving crop yield and quality. Cyclodextrins protect bioactive molecules mainly by forming reversible inclusion complexes that hide sensitive parts of the molecule inside the CD cavity, lowering exposure to oxygen, light, metals, acids/bases, and volatilization. The effectiveness and the dominant protection pathway do depend on the food matrix (water, lipids, proteins, alcohol, sugar, pH, processing). Conclusions: CDs-UVR absorber complexes represent an effective strategy for improving the stability and shelf-life of these products. Their ability to form inclusion complexes with UVR-sensitive compounds offers considerable advantages in preserving nutritional value, enhancing product quality, and promoting sustainability. Given the increasing consumer demand for healthier functional and high-quality products with extended shelf-life, cyclodextrin-based technologies are positioned as a vital component in future advancements within these industries. Further research and industrial-scale applications are essential to fully realize their potential. Keywords: Cyclodextrin; UV-Radiation; Food stability; Agrochemicals; Bioavailability; Antioxidant.