An analysis of the application characteristics of alginic acid in the food industry

Alginic acid, also known as algin or alginate, is a natural carbohydrate, which is derived from marine brown algae, as well as some microorganisms. It can be used in various applications. In particular, alginate has shown great potential in the areas of wound healing, drug delivery, in vitro cell culture, and tissue engineering, allowing the categorization of it as a promising biomaterial, or a basic component of other biomaterials. The unique characteristics of alginic acid, such as the biocompatibility, the mild required gelation conditions, the low toxicity, the relative low cost and the simple modifications, allow the development of alginate hydrogels, and alginate derivatives with enhanced properties. Alginate is an established food ingredient widely used in the production of functional food products. As a food ingredient, the applications of alginate are based on three main properties, i.e., thickening, gelling and film forming. This paper summarizes the main properties of alginate and its applications in a myriad of newer functional food products, from edible food jelly, restructured meat, coating for prepacked, cut or prepared fruits and vegetables, etc. In addition, new applications are also emerging following the chemical, physical and biological modifications of alginate to yield derivatives with specialized functional properties. In this respect, the paper also summarized the application of alginate oligomer and propylene glycol alginate in the production of meat products, pasta products, drinks and many other forms of food products.

کلیدواژه ها:

: Alginate ، Biopolymer ، Dietary fiber ، Food ingredient ، Functional food