Bioactive Compounds in Functional Meals: Bioavailability Challenges, Food Technology Approaches, and Health Perspectives—A Narrative Review

Abstract

Functional meals are emerging, encompassing complete meal systems designed to deliver physiological benefits through food synergy, interactions with the food matrix, and optimized release of bioactive compounds. This narrative review examines the role of bioactive compounds in functional meals, with particular emphasis on bioavailability, food matrix effects, technological approaches, and health implications. Bioactive compounds can contribute to cardiometabolic, anti-inflammatory, gastrointestinal, and neuroprotective effects. However, their biological efficacy depends not only on their concentration in foods but also on their release from the food matrix, stability during processing and digestion, intestinal absorption, microbiota-mediated transformation, and post-absorptive metabolism. Therefore, functional meals represent complex systems in which food structure, culinary preparation, processing intensity, co-ingested nutrients, and host-related factors determine the final physiological response. Emerging technologies, including microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation, offer promising strategies to improve the stability, bioaccessibility, targeted release, and sensory acceptability of bioactives. Future research should prioritize well-designed human studies, standardized methodologies, clinically relevant outcomes, personalized nutritional approaches, and sustainable food system integration to support the development of effective, evidence-based functional meal strategies.