Semenova M., Dickinson E. Biopolymers in Food Colloids: Thermodynamics and Molecular Interactions

Koninklijke Brill NV, 2010. - 421 p. - The term ‘food colloids’ can be applied to all edible multi-phase systems such as foams, gels, dispersions and emulsions. Therefore, most manu-factured foodstuffs can be classified as food colloids, and some natural ones also (notably milk). One of the key features of such systems is that they require the addition of a combination of surface-active molecules and thickeners for control of their texture and shelf-life. To achieve the requirements of consumers and food technologists, various combinations of proteins and polysaccharides are routinely used. The structures formed by these biopolymers in the bulk aqueous phase and at the surface of droplets and bubbles determine the long-term stability and rheological properties of food colloids. These structures are determined by the nature of the various kinds of biopolymer-biopolymer interactions, as well as by the interactions of the biopolymers with other food ingredients such as low-molecular-weight surfactants (emulsifiers).