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Application of In Vitro Digestion Models in Food Nutritional Assessment
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Application of In Vitro Digestion Models in Food Nutritional Assessment

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 12 November 2026 | Viewed by 2406

Editor

Prof. Dr. Osman Sagdic

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, Davutpasa, Istanbul 34210, Turkey
Interests: food chemistry and biochemistry; nutrition and dietetic; functional food

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Assessing the nutritional quality and functional effects of foods is not limited to simply measuring their composition; it also requires understanding how nutrients are released, transformed, and absorbed in relation to the glycemic index during digestion. In vitro digestion models offer a practical approach for exploring nutrient behavior beyond compositional analysis and in relation to in vivo studies. These models are now widely used to investigate the bioaccessibility, stability, and interactions of nutrients and bioactive compounds in different food matrices. Compared to in vivo studies, in vitro approaches are more cost-effective, less labor-intensive, and can be conducted without ethical constraints. While they cannot completely replace in vivo experiments, they remain valuable complementary tools for the initial assessment of food behavior and the design of subsequent studies. Static, dynamic, and semi-dynamic models have long been used, and recent developments and the INFOGEST protocol have increased the reliability, reproducibility, and interlaboratory comparability of these models. This Special Issue aims to present recent methodological developments and applications in in vitro digestion models, with particular emphasis on chemical interactions between food components, transformations occurring during digestion, the role of the food matrix and processing, encapsulation strategies to improve nutrient delivery, and their implications for functional food design and nutritional strategies.

Prof. Dr. Osman Sagdic
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 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

  • in vitro digestion
  • bioaccessibility
  • nutritional assessment
  • food matrix
  • INFOGEST
  • bioactive compounds
  • glycemic index

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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17 pages, 4625 KB  
Article
Comparative In Vitro Analysis of Five Starch Sources: Nutrient Release Patterns and Functional Effects in a Simulated Gastrointestinal Environment
by Siyu Yi, Ting Chen, Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Yexing Feng, Pei Wang, Weidong Hu, Qian Zhu, Lei Zhou and Xiangfeng Kong
Foods 2026, 15(8), 1339; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15081339 - 12 Apr 2026
Viewed by 558
Abstract
Corn, paddy, wheat, sorghum, and cassava serve as the primary energy sources in both human and animal diets. This study aimed to evaluate their nutrient release patterns in a simulated gastrointestinal environment and to assess the in vitro biological activity of the metabolites [...] Read more.
Corn, paddy, wheat, sorghum, and cassava serve as the primary energy sources in both human and animal diets. This study aimed to evaluate their nutrient release patterns in a simulated gastrointestinal environment and to assess the in vitro biological activity of the metabolites produced during digestion. The results showed that wheat exhibited the highest dry matter degradation in the stomach–jejunum–ileum digestion stage, while wheat and paddy showed the highest crude protein degradation compared with the other starch sources. In addition, wheat had a higher total free sugar concentration than paddy, sorghum, and cassava. Among the individual free sugars, such as D-sorbitol and D-(+)-trehalose, were found to have the highest concentrations in wheat, whereas cassava had the highest D(−)-fructose concentration. Several differential metabolites, including valeric acid, caproic acid, octanoic acid, and azelaic acid were highly released in paddy, whereas glucaric acid, threonic acid, phenylacetic acid, and shikimic acid were highly released in cassava, and 4-hydroxycinnamic acid was highly released in paddy and sorghum. Four unique metabolites were identified during the digestion process of five starch sources. Particularly, isocitric acid and trans-Cinnamic acid were released only from cassava; caffeic acid was released only from sorghum and corn; and pimelic acid was released only from paddy and wheat. Furthermore, cassava was distinct from the other starch sources, displaying a higher abundance of differential metabolites within the glucagon signaling pathway as mapped in KEGG pathway analysis. In summary, compared with other starch sources, wheat provides more dry matter, protein, and sugars for the body. Cassava is unlikely to offer any advantage in glycemic regulation, while paddy and cassava possess stronger biological activity in terms of differential metabolites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of In Vitro Digestion Models in Food Nutritional Assessment)
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14 pages, 680 KB  
Article
In Vitro Bioaccessibility of Selenium in Popular Thai Seafood Across Cooking Methods
by Narisa Rueangsri, Chonnikarn Limpaninchart, Niratchaporn Thanopajai, Kunchit Judprasong, Piyanut Sridonpai, Nunnapus Laitip, Nattikarn Ornthai, Jörg Feldmann and Alongkote Singhato
Foods 2026, 15(5), 873; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15050873 - 4 Mar 2026
Viewed by 551
Abstract
Selenium (Se) is a vital element for human health and seafood represents one of its major dietary sources. Nevertheless, information regarding the bioaccessibility of Se from seafood commonly consumed in Thailand remains scarce. To address this limitation, the present study evaluated in vitro [...] Read more.
Selenium (Se) is a vital element for human health and seafood represents one of its major dietary sources. Nevertheless, information regarding the bioaccessibility of Se from seafood commonly consumed in Thailand remains scarce. To address this limitation, the present study evaluated in vitro Se bioaccessibility using the equilibrium dialyzability approach. Ten seafood species frequently selected by Thai consumers were investigated to determine total Se concentrations following different culinary treatments, namely fresh, boiling, frying, and grilling. For thermally processed samples, gastrointestinal digestion was simulated in vitro through enzymatic digestion prior to bioaccessibility assessment using the equilibrium dialyzability method. Inductively coupled plasma triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-QQQ-MS) was used to precisely quantify the total and dialyzable Se fractions. The effects of seafood species and cooking methods were evaluated statistically using two-way analysis of variance and the Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD) test for post hoc comparisons. The findings showed that, across the majority of cooking techniques, Indo-Pacific horseshoe crab eggs consistently showed considerably greater Se contents than other seafood (p < 0.05). Moreover, Se bioaccessibility in Indo-Pacific horseshoe crab eggs (81.1–88.3%) was markedly greater than that observed in other seafood items, including musk crab, blue crab, oysters, and wedge shell, regardless of cooking method (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences in Se bioaccessibility were observed among boiling, frying, and grilling (p > 0.05), indicating that thermal processing did not adversely affect Se availability. Overall, the seafood species examined in this study, irrespective of preparation method, contained substantial Se levels with high bioaccessibility, underscoring their nutritional value and supporting dietary recommendations that promote balanced consumption of marine foods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of In Vitro Digestion Models in Food Nutritional Assessment)
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Other

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26 pages, 5108 KB  
Systematic Review
INFOGEST 2.0 Protocol Applied to Animal-Derived Milk and Dairy Products: A Systematic Review of Six Years of Scientific Effort
by Giuseppe De Santis, Olubukunmi Amos Ilori, Diana Marisol Abrego-Guandique, Pierluigi Plastina, Paola Tucci and Erika Cione
Foods 2026, 15(11), 1871; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15111871 - 25 May 2026
Viewed by 758
Abstract
The INFOGEST protocol is a standardised in vitro digestion model widely utilised to evaluate the digestibility and bioaccessibility of nutrients in diverse food matrices. This review focuses on its application since 2020 (after the publication of the INFOGEST 2.0 model) to milk and [...] Read more.
The INFOGEST protocol is a standardised in vitro digestion model widely utilised to evaluate the digestibility and bioaccessibility of nutrients in diverse food matrices. This review focuses on its application since 2020 (after the publication of the INFOGEST 2.0 model) to milk and dairy products, which often serve as a suitable food matrix in digestion studies. By analysing 50 studies selected using a semi-automated method, this review highlights its strong performance in reproducing general digestive trends, including peptide fingerprint profiling, consistent high-protein digestibility, and matrix-dependent lipid and mineral bioaccessibility. The model is particularly effective in evaluating structural modifications of dairy products and their impact on digestive behaviour. However, its application remains skewed toward bovine systems, limiting broader relevance to other dairy matrices. Methodological variability, including protocol modifications and emerging semi-dynamic adaptations, poses challenges to reproducibility. Furthermore, reliance on simplified downstream models constrains the physiological interpretation of bioactivity and nutrient absorption. Future progress requires harmonised dynamic extensions, expanded use of advanced biological systems, and inclusion of diverse dairy matrices. Collectively, these advances will support a shift from descriptive bioaccessibility toward more predictive assessments of nutrient bioavailability. This six-year, non-topic-dependent bibliometric analysis contextualises the expanding adoption of INFOGEST 2.0 as reflected in its versatility and evolving scope, positioning it as a cornerstone tool for advancing our understanding of dairy nutrition, digestion-derived bioactivity, and ultimately, the relationship between dairy consumption and human health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of In Vitro Digestion Models in Food Nutritional Assessment)
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