Novel food grade dispersants : review of recent progress

Many foreseen advances in the design of food structures, suitable for ever demanding nutrient delivery systems, tailored controlled release, microencapsulation and protection of active ingredients, require a generation of superior dispersants than those currently provided by proteins. While the most efficient structure for such dispersants is relatively easy to specify, in foods they cannot simply be synthetically manufactured. The review highlights several possible strategies for realising more efficient food colloid stabilisers and summarises the key recent progress for each approach, both experimentally and theoretically. The emphasis is on those methods that lead to macromolecularly adsorbed layers. Practical aspects apart, we also discuss a number of interesting fundamental questions that each approach raises.