Vitamin D fortification: A perspective to improve immunity for COVID-19 infection

The need for food fortification arises because of the close relationship between humans, health, and food. The problem of the prevalence of micronutrient malnutrition paved a way for food fortification to emerge and run in this technological era. This review focuses on the importance of vitamin D in the present pandemic situation and the techniques used for fortification. Stability and bio-accessibility are the biggest question in the food fortification process as a large proportion of vitamin D is lost during food processing and storage due to environmental stress conditions such as temperature, pH, salt, oxygen, and light. Vitamin D is an important micronutrient required for the prevention of respiratory disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer etc. which make it essential in enhancing immunity against COVID-19. Food fortification is the most efficient and safest method recognized by the WHO. The present review is an update on vitamin D, considering its role and importance and fortification techniques adopted. Among all the techniques, nanoencapsulation is found to be an efficient one with the increasing demand.Keywords: Vitamin D, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Fortification, Microencapsulation, Nanoencapsulation, Emulsification