Recent Advance in Food Gels (3rd Edition)

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 352

Special Issue Editors

Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Interests: food biomacromolecules structures and functionalities; food rheology; milk proteins; starch and non-starch polysaccharides; small-angle X-ray scattering; small-angle neutron scattering; ultra small-angle neutron scattering; non-thermal food processing
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Guest Editor
Riddet Institute, Massey University, Palmerston North 0745, New Zealand
Interests: emulsions; interfaces; proteins; gels; rheology; digestion; small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Significant developments in food hydrogel research have been observed in recent decades. For example, hydrogels made from emerging protein resources or fabricated via novel techniques such as high hydrostatic pressure or novel routes such as self-assembly have attracted extensive attention from both academia and industry. In addition, unique techniques such as (ultra) small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering have been increasingly utilized to analyze the microstructures of food hydrogels in their native aqueous states or under external environmental factors such as heating, high hydrostatic pressure, and large shear deformation. The time-resolved SAXS/SANS study of food hydrogels under different environmental stressors could provide valuable structural insights into their practical application. Thus, we welcome the submission of reviews and original research studies that address the novel fabrication, physicochemical characterization, and structural study of food hydrogels, particularly those obtained from emerging resources.

Dr. Zhi Yang
Dr. Lirong Cheng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • emerging protein resources
  • polysaccharides
  • self-assembly
  • microstructure

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 2763 KiB  
Article
Effect of Cassia Gum on the Gel Properties of Wheat Flour–Tapioca Starch-Based Batter and the Oil Absorption Capacity of Fried Small Yellow Croaker
by Guilian Ran, Qiang Zhang, Yiping Liao, Liufang Xu and Qiang Zou
Gels 2025, 11(6), 469; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11060469 - 18 Jun 2025
Viewed by 265
Abstract
High oil content in breaded fried small yellow croaker (BFYC) was reduced using composite batter gels consisting of tapioca starch, wheat flour, and different concentrations of cassia gum (CG; 0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, 1%). The effects of CG on the oil absorption [...] Read more.
High oil content in breaded fried small yellow croaker (BFYC) was reduced using composite batter gels consisting of tapioca starch, wheat flour, and different concentrations of cassia gum (CG; 0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, 1%). The effects of CG on the oil absorption capacity of BFYC and potential mechanisms were investigated. Dynamic rheological analysis revealed that CG addition could enhance the viscoelasticity of the batter by increasing its storage modulus and loss modulus. Furthermore, FTIR and X-ray diffraction results demonstrated that CG interacts with starch through noncovalent interactions, increasing the relative crystallinity from 9.29% to 16.49%, which promoted the formation of a gel layer. This structural improvement effectively inhibited oil absorption. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis showed that within the 0–0.8% CG range, the batter’s denaturation temperature increased from 78.23 °C to 82.08 °C with higher CG concentrations, indicating prolonged gelatinization and enhanced thermal stability that further reduced oil penetration. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance analysis revealed that CG increased the proportion of tightly bound and weakly bound water in the batter, thereby improving water retention capacity and reducing moisture loss during frying. Microscopic structural observations and Sudan Red-staining tests confirmed that at 0.8% CG concentration, the crust exhibited the lowest porosity with approximately 40% reduction in surface fat content compared to the control group. In conclusion, CG addition significantly improves batter properties and reduces oil content in fried products, providing theoretical support for the development of low-fat fried foods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advance in Food Gels (3rd Edition))
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