Elsevier

Food Hydrocolloids

Volume 53, February 2016, Pages 46-61
Food Hydrocolloids

The functional and nutritional aspects of hydrocolloids in foods

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2015.01.035Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The definition of hydrocolloids was put forward.

  • The comprehensive classification of hydrocolloids was proposed.

  • The functional properties of hydrocolloids were summarized.

  • The nutritional effects of hydrocolloids were listed.

Abstract

Hydrocolloids are among the most commonly used ingredients in the food industry. They function as thickeners, gelling agents, emulsifiers, stabilizers, fat replacers, clarifying agents, flocculating agents, clouding agents and whipping agents; additionally, they have applications in the areas of edible films, encapsulating flavors and crystallization inhibition. Besides, hydrocolloids are currently being found to have many increasing applications in the health realm: they provide low-calorie dietary fiber, among many other uses. This review focuses on the trends and progress in the exploration of hydrocolloids to fit the demands for different food products, gives an encyclopedic description of their applications in the food industry as ingredients, food additives and health promoters. Since the use of hydrocolloids is on the rise in many fields, this review that covers both functionality and nutrition of hydrocolloids in foods is both timely and of great interest.

Introduction

Consumers have always felt the need for foods with better texture, taste and other organoleptic properties. Currently, there is an increasing demand for healthy and natural food products by health-conscious consumers. And it became one of the driving factors that boosted the development of the hydrocolloids market. According to “Global Hydrocolloid Market Report, 2018” reported in 2013, the global market is projected to reach $7 billion by 2018 with North America as the largest consumer for food hydrocolloids. Another report by MicroMarket Monitor indicated that the food & beverage hydrocolloids market in North America was estimated to increase from around $2049.3 million in 2013 to $2583.4 million by 2018, at a CAGR of 4.7% from 2013 to 2018 (http://www.prweb.com/releases/food-beverage/market/prweb12136859.htm). And the latest 2014 report “Hydrocolloids Market – Global Trend & Forecast to 2019” showed that this market is projected to value at $7911.1 million by 2019.

Hydrocolloids are a diverse group of long-chain polymers that are readily dispersive, fully or partially soluble, and prone to swell in water. They change the physical properties of the solution to form gels, or enable thickening, emulsification, coating, and stabilization (Williams & Phillips, 2000). Presence of many hydroxyl groups conspicuously increases their affinity for binding water rendering them hydrophilic. In addition, hydrocolloids produce a dispersion, which is intermediate between a true solution and a suspension, and exhibit the properties of a colloid. Consequently, they are aptly termed as ‘hydrocolloids’ (Saha & Bhattacharya, 2010). Hydrocolloids constitute a structurally multifarious class of fully or partially soluble polysaccharides. The protein gelatin is accepted as an exceptional member of this polysaccharide club, which is ascribable to its excellent hydrophilicity and polydispersity (Dickinson, 2003). Other food proteins such as whey proteins are traditionally not classified as hydrocolloids even though they exhibit aggregation and gelation behavior that overlap with those of polysaccharides to some extent. However, some hydrocolloid scientists also classified whey proteins as hydrocolloids.

Food colloids can represent an important part of our everyday diet, with products such as sauces, dressings, yoghourt, mayonnaise and ice creams. Hydrocolloids have a splendid array of functional properties in these food colloid systems. And they function as thickeners, gelling agents, foaming agents, edible coatings, emulsifiers, stabilizers, etc. The principal reason for extensive use of hydrocolloids in the food industry is their ability to bind with water and modify the properties of food ingredients. The modification of rheological characteristics is helpful to modifying foods' sensory properties (Valdez, 2012). Hence hydrocolloids are employed as extremely significant food additives. Indeed, glance through the handbook of food additives and you will find a large quantity of hydrocolloids listed for food use (Smith & Hong-Shum, 2003). Examples include: alginic acid (E400), sodium alginate (E401), agar (E406), carrageenan (E407), locust bean gum (E410), guar gum (E412), gum tragacanth (E413), gum arabic (E414), xanthan gum (E415), karaya gum (E416), tara gum (E417), gellan gum (E418) and glucomannan (E425), among others (Branen, Davidson, Salminen, & Thorngate, 2002). The E numbers are codes for food additives and are usually found on food labels throughout the EU. The numbering scheme follows that of the International Numbering System (INS) as determined by the Codex Alimentarius Committee. Only a subset of the INS additives is approved for use in the EU, as denoted by the ‘E’ prefix, which stands for Europe.

Besides functional attributes, hydrocolloids have also received enthusiastic countenance due largely to the dietary fiber aspect of food hydrocolloids (Brownlee, 2011, Chawla and Patil, 2010). In terms of the latest version of the definition of dietary fiber approved by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (ALINORM 09/32/A), most food hydrocolloids could be considered to be dietary fibers. It is widely known that as an important ingredient in a healthy diet, dietary fiber is highly recommended for a daily part of our diet. The recommendation for adults by National Research Council suggested a fiber intake above 25 g per day. Some hydrocolloids are utilized to increase the fiber content in food products. There are many health benefits connected to the consumption of food hydrocolloids, which include weight management, immune regulation, colonic health, cardiovascular disease prevention, and glycemic and insulinaemic control in type-2 diabetes (Dettmar et al., 2011, Fiszman and Varela, 2013, Gidley, 2013, Lindström et al., 2012, Mudgil and Barak, 2013, Yang et al., 2011). Hydrocolloids provide viscosity and play a role in developing the foods with high satiating capacity. The satiety effect of hydrocolloids is related with slowing down enzyme action efficacy and/or delaying gastric emptying (Morell, Fiszman, Varela, & Hernando, 2014). A number of studies indicated that consumption of some specific hydrocolloids could regulate the composition of the intestinal bacterial flora, promoting good bacteria such as bifido and lactobacillus. And it might lead to an increased fermentative activity as well as short-chain fatty acid production (Viebke, Al-Assaf, & Phillips, 2014), since short-chain fatty acids have substantial biologically effects including the modulation of cell proliferation, apoptosis and angiogenesis. Psyllium and β-glucan, that are both viscous soluble hydrocolloids, are clinically proven to lower serum cholesterol, leading to the recognition for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Feinglos, Gibb, Ramsey, Surwit, & McRorie, 2013). It should be noted that the positive physiological effects of hydrocolloids and thereby potential health benefits need to be studied further and validated by more clinical trials. Apart from this, it is not assumed that every specific hydrocolloid would have all the health benefits described above.

Hydrocolloids have been widely studied by mankind for literally hundreds of years both from the functional and nutritional perspective. There is a lot to learn about the role of hydrocolloids and the final product quality. And it is well known that product quality depends on a balance of interactions among different kinds of ingredients including hydrocolloids. Today various techniques are available to evaluate the contribution from researches of single molecules, and the interactions on the molecular and supramolecular levels, up to phase-separated systems and gel networks. However, due to the deficiency in the creation of new know-how on how to better tailor or design colloidal structures and their interactions, we are still on the threshold for the complete exploitation of this colossal resource. Additionally, we haven't been clear about all the physiological effects of all the hydrocolloids thus far. Therefore, we still need to endeavor to get to the bottom of hydrocolloids down the road.

To the best of our knowledge, there is no review article devoted on comprehensive discussion about food-related functional properties as well as nutritional values of total hydrocolloids. However, it is not at all possible to cover all the functional and nutritional aspects of hydrocolloids in food in this short paper. This review presents the basic features about hydrocolloids and highlights specifically their uses in sundry foods.

Section snippets

Classification and commercial assessments of hydrocolloids

Traditionally, most of the hydrocolloids are classified as polysaccharides and grouped according to their source. Therefore, gum karaya, gum tragacanth, gum ghatti, gum arabic and other acacia gum are assembled under the tree exudate group. Agar–agar, alginate, carrageenan, furcellaran, and fucoidan are classified as the seaweed group. Additional gum-like substances, such as pectin and psyllium, are categorized in separate plant groups, while gelatin and chitin are included in the animal group.

Functional properties of hydrocolloids in processed food

Hydrocolloids are applied for various processed foods. A few applications are exemplified: they are thickeners in soups, gravies, salad dressings, sauces and toppings (Krystyjan, Sikora, Adamczyk, & Tomasik, 2012); gelling agents in puddings, jellies and aspics; emulsifiers in yoghourt, ice cream and butter (Kiani, Mousavi, Razavi, & Morris, 2010); fat replacers in meat and dairy products (Pinero et al., 2008); coating agents in confectionery and fried foods; adhesives in bakery glazes;

Nutritional benefits of hydrocolloids

There has been an extremely alarming growth in chronic diseases (CHD) such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and cancer, which has been connected to the over consumption of high fat as well as high calorie foods. Also the immoderate consumption of food carbohydrates has been a source of concern and a joint FAO/WHO report has required people to decrease the consumption of sugars and to increase correspondingly the dietary fiber consumption (Brennan & Tudorica, 2008b). The awareness

Conclusions and implications for future research

People have benefited from hydrocolloids which are helpful and favorable in many fields, including agriculture, biotechnology, cosmetics, pharmaceutics, ceramics, textiles, explosives and so forth. Most importantly, hydrocolloids have been exploited for a number of years in our foods. They are used in a wide variety of foods such as sauces (thickeners), puddings (gelling agents), cheeses (syneresis inhibitors), beer (clarifying agents, foam stabilizers), ice creams (emulsifiers, crystallization

Acknowledgments

The financial support for this study by National Natural Science Foundation of China for Excellent Young Scholars (31422042), National Key Technology R & D Program of China (2012BAD33B06), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-12-0749) and the Project of Science and Technology of Jiangxi Provincial Education Department (KJLD13004), is gratefully acknowledged.

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