Cereal protein-based nanoparticles as agents stabilizing air–water and oil–water interfaces in food systems

Abstract

There has been a recent surge of interest in the use of food-grade nanoparticles (NPs) for stabilizing food foams and emulsions. Cereal proteins are a promising raw material class to produce such NPs. Studies thus far have focused mostly on wheat gliadin and maize zein-based NPs. The former are effective interfacial stabilizing agents, while the latter due to their high hydrophobicity generally result in poor interfacial stability. Several strategies to modify the surface properties of wheat gliadin and maize zein NPs have been followed. In many instances, this resulted in improved foam or emulsion stability. Nonetheless, future efforts should be undertaken to gain fundamental insights in the interfacial behavior of NPs, to further explore NP surface modification strategies, and to validate the use of NPs in actual food systems.