## 1 Introduction  
The consumption of cereal-based products is high around the world, with many countries considering them staple foods that contribute significantly to their diet's energy and nutrient intake. Consumers often choose these products due to their low price, ease of preparation and high sensory value. However, nowadays, consumers expect products that, in addition to fulfilling a nutritional role, also have health-promoting properties and improve well-being [1]. The main requirements include the use of whole grain flours, elimination of gluten, and reducing the share of artificial colors and preservatives. Moreover, there is an increasing interest in products with an enhanced content of bioactive compounds. The easiest way to obtain such products is to fortify them directly with vitamins and minerals or with products that contain a large amount of them, such as plant extracts. The greatest disadvantage in using these compounds is their thermal and photolability [2; 3]. This is especially important for heat-treated products. Pasta production is based on mechanical processes such as mixing and extrusion, but also thermal processes such as drying. Each of these processes may reduce the content of bioactive compounds. Moreover, they usually have a long shelf life and storage period prior to cooking, which both also affect the content of these compounds. To prevent the negative impact of environmental conditions on these compounds, microencapsulation technology can be used. This innovative technique involves enveloping these bioactive components in capsules the size of which ranges from 1 to 1000 \(\upmu\)m (microcapsules) or 1 nm to 1 \(\upmu\)m (nanocapsules), shielding them from degradation during processing and storage. The most common microencapsulation technique, being the shell/core encapsulation, involves enclosing the core substance (also referred to as an active or encapsulate) inside the outer material (matrix, shell, wall, coating, encapsulant). Other structures include multilayer complex microcapsules and cores dispersed in a continuous matrix. The matrix is a barrier separating the core from the external environment. The main advantage of this method is the possibility of using substances in various states of matter, including gases, liquids and solids [4; 5; 6; 7]. The coating can consist of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The most commonly used carbohydrates include starches, maltodextrin, cellulose and cyclodextrin. In the case of proteins, these are gluten, casein and gelatin. The fats most commonly used in microencapsulation are waxes, e.g., beeswax, paraffin and diacylglycerols. It is also possible to use gums such as gum arabic, guar, or carrageenan. There are many microencapsulation methods; the most commonly used are spray-drying (SD) and freeze-drying (FD). Less frequently used methods are microencapsulation by encapsulation in liposomes, coaervation or fluidized bed coating [8; 9; 10]. When incorporated into food products such as pasta, these microcapsules release their contents, ensuring the preservation of nutritional potency until consumption. The benefits of using the microencapsulation technique, apart from protecting the core substance, include the possibility of extending the shelf life of the product, controlling the release of the active substance and preventing its interactions with other food ingredients. It is also possible to use the microencapsulation method to mask the color, taste and smell of the active substance, which is particularly important when using compounds with intense aroma and color. This allows for limiting negative changes in the sensory evaluation of products by consumers [11; 12]. This work presents various microencapsulation methods, highlighting their key features, benefits and challenges in their application, and the possibilities of their use in the protection of various active compounds. This review focuses on current research, published mainly in the last 5 years.