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Gels
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Gel Technology for Development of Bioactive Foodstuffs
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Gel Technology for Development of Bioactive Foodstuffs

A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2024) | Viewed by 3612

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Manuela Machado

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Guest Editor
CBQF—Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina—Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Diogo Botelho 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal
Interests: food science; lipid metabolism; metabolomics; bioactive compounds; functional foods; gel
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ana Maria Gomes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CBQF—Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina—Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Diogo Botelho 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal
Interests: functional foods; bioactive compounds; probiotics; prebiotics; functional lipids; marine resources
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Eduardo Costa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CBQF—Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina—Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Diogo Botelho, 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal
Interests: bioactive compounds; biological activity; functional foods; antimicrobials; cosmeceuticals; nutraceuticals; cellular models; proteomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Contemporary lifestyles are responsible for the increased prevalence of several diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. This fact is leading to an increase in consumer demand for functional foods with proven health benefits. In this way, the incorporation of bioactive compounds (e.g., phenolic compounds, carotenoids, bioactive lipids, vitamins) into food systems is one of the most important strategies used by the food industry to meet consumer needs. However, most of these compounds are chemically sensitive to environmental stresses (e.g., heat, light, oxygen, enzymes), have poor water or oil solubility and display low bioavailability. To overcome these disadvantages, different delivery solutions have been developed, particularly involving gels. These soft materials are built up with a liquid phase entrapped within a 3D network, which can be a carrier for bioactive food ingredients. Gels can be designed in the water phase (hydrogels, emulsion gels, bigels) or oil phase (organogels, bigels) for the purpose of modulating their delivery performances. Hydrogels produced from proteins or polysaccharides are suitable for the delivery of hydrophilic ingredients. Organogels are produced by the self-assembly of gelator molecules in the oil phase, and they offer good carriers for lipophilic ingredients. Emulsion gels and bigels, containing both aqueous and oil phases, can deliver lipophilic and hydrophilic ingredients simultaneously. In addition, these structures can also be used as fat replacers to improve foods nutritional quality and meet the recommendations of lowering the intake of unhealthy fats. Thus, this Issue seeks to spotlight the application of gels in the food industry for food fortification or to act as fat replacers. 

Dr. Manuela Machado
Dr. Ana Maria Gomes
Dr. Eduardo M. Costa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bioactive compounds
  • functional foods
  • bioavailability
  • fat replacer

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3187 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Medium-Chain Fatty Acid Delivery Through Bigel Technology
by Manuela Machado, Eduardo M. Costa, Sara Silva, Sérgio C. Sousa, Ana Maria Gomes and Manuela Pintado
Gels 2024, 10(11), 738; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10110738 - 14 Nov 2024
Viewed by 368
Abstract
This study presents the development and characterization of medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA)-loaded bigels, using coconut oil as the MCFA source. The bigels exhibited high oil binding capacity, ranging from 87% to 98%, effectively retaining MCFAs within the matrix, with lauric acid (C12) being [...] Read more.
This study presents the development and characterization of medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA)-loaded bigels, using coconut oil as the MCFA source. The bigels exhibited high oil binding capacity, ranging from 87% to 98%, effectively retaining MCFAs within the matrix, with lauric acid (C12) being the main component detected within the bigels at 178.32 ± 0.10 mg/g. Physicochemical analysis, including FTIR and scanning electron microscopy, confirmed stable fatty acid incorporation and a cohesive, smooth structure. The FTIR spectra displayed O-H and C=O stretching vibrations, indicating hydrogen bonding within the matrix, while the SEM images showed uniform lipid droplet distribution with stable phase separation. Thermal stability tests showed that the bigels were stable for 5 days at 50 °C, with oil retention and structural integrity unchanged. Rheological testing indicated a solid-like behavior, with a high elastic modulus (G′) that consistently exceeded the viscous modulus (G″), which is indicative of a strong internal structure. In simulated gastrointestinal digestion, the bigels achieved significantly higher MCFA retention than the pure oil, particularly in the gastric phase, with recovery percentages of 38.1% for the bigels and 1.7% for the oil (p < 0.05), suggesting enhanced bioavailability. Cell-based cytotoxicity assays showed low cytotoxicity, and permeability testing in a co-culture Caco-2/HT29-MTX model revealed a controlled, gradual MCFA release, with approximately 10% reaching the basolateral side over 6 h. These findings highlight MCFA-loaded bigels as a promising platform for nutraceutical applications; they provided stability, safety, and controlled MCFA release, with significant potential for functional foods aimed at enhancing fatty acid bioavailability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gel Technology for Development of Bioactive Foodstuffs)
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19 pages, 2989 KiB  
Article
Effect of Drying Conditions and Jojoba Oil Incorporation on the Selected Physical Properties of Hydrogel Whey Protein-Based Edible Films
by Sabina Galus, Magdalena Karwacka, Agnieszka Ciurzyńska and Monika Janowicz
Gels 2024, 10(5), 340; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10050340 - 17 May 2024
Viewed by 1064
Abstract
Edible hydrogel coatings or films in comparison to conventional food packaging materials are characterized as thin layers obtained from biopolymers that can be applied or enveloped onto the surface of food products. The use of lipid-containing hydrogel packaging materials, primarily as edible protective [...] Read more.
Edible hydrogel coatings or films in comparison to conventional food packaging materials are characterized as thin layers obtained from biopolymers that can be applied or enveloped onto the surface of food products. The use of lipid-containing hydrogel packaging materials, primarily as edible protective coatings for food applications, is recognized for their excellent barrier capacity against water vapor during storage. With the high brittleness of waxes and the oxidation of different fats or oils, highly stable agents are desirable. Jojoba oil obtained from the jojoba shrub is an ester of long-chain fatty acids and monovalent, long-chain alcohols, which contains natural oxidants α, β, and δ tocopherols; therefore, it is resistant to oxidation and shows high thermal stability. The production of hydrogel films and coatings involves solvent evaporation, which may occur in ambient or controlled drying conditions. The study aimed to determine the effect of drying conditions (temperature from 20 to 70 °C and relative humidity from 30 to 70%) and jojoba oil addition at the concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0% on the selected physical properties of hydrogel edible films based on whey protein isolate. Homogenization resulted in stable, film-forming emulsions with bimodal lipid droplet distribution and a particle size close to 3 and 45 µm. When higher drying temperatures were used, the drying time was much shorter (minimum 2 h for temperature of 70 °C and relative humidity of 30%) and a more compact structure, lower water content (12.00–13.68%), and better mechanical resistance (3.48–3.93 MPa) of hydrogel whey protein films were observed. The optimal conditions for drying hydrogel whey protein films are a temperature of 50 °C and an air humidity of 30% over 3 h. Increasing the content of jojoba oil caused noticeable color changes (total color difference increased from 2.00 to 2.43 at 20 °C and from 2.58 to 3.04 at 70 °C), improved mechanical elasticity (the highest at 60 °C from 48.4 to 101.1%), and reduced water vapor permeability (the highest at 70 °C from 9.00·10−10 to 6.35·10−10 g/m·s·Pa) of the analyzed films. The observations of scanning electron micrographs showed the heterogeneity of the film surface and irregular distribution of lipid droplets in the film matrix. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gel Technology for Development of Bioactive Foodstuffs)
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10 pages, 786 KiB  
Article
Textural Restoration of Broiler Breast Fillets with Spaghetti Meat Myopathy, Using Two Alginate Gels Systems
by Chaoyue Wang, Leonardo Susta and Shai Barbut
Gels 2024, 10(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10010007 - 21 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1536
Abstract
The effects of salt-sensitive alginate (“A”) and a two-component salt-tolerant alginate system (“B”) used at a 0.5% or 1.0% level were evaluated in normal breast (NB) chicken fillets and in spaghetti meat (SM) fillets. Minced raw and cooked SM samples showed higher cooking [...] Read more.
The effects of salt-sensitive alginate (“A”) and a two-component salt-tolerant alginate system (“B”) used at a 0.5% or 1.0% level were evaluated in normal breast (NB) chicken fillets and in spaghetti meat (SM) fillets. Minced raw and cooked SM samples showed higher cooking loss (p < 0.05) and lower penetration force compared to NB meat. Both alginate systems significantly raised the penetration force in raw samples and decreased cooking loss (p < 0.05). Adding 1% of “A” or 0.5% “B” to SM, without salt, resulted in a similar penetration force as the cooked NB meat, while 1% “B” with salt resulted in a higher penetration force. Excluding salt from SM samples while adding alginate “A” or “B” improved texture profiles, but not to the same level as using NB without additives. Overall, salt, together with alginate “B”, improved the texture of SM to that of normal meat without myopathy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gel Technology for Development of Bioactive Foodstuffs)
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