Chapter 13 - Applications of Alginate as a Functional Food Ingredient

Abstract

Alginate is a natural polymer extracted from brown seaweed. Its unique biophysical properties are highly valuable in the development of functional food products. As a food ingredient, the applications of alginate are based on three main properties: thickening, gelling, and film forming. This chapter introduces the main physical, chemical, and biological properties of alginate as a functional food ingredient and summarizes the historical and recent developments of the functional benefits of various types of food and drink products containing alginate. The unique gelling abilities at low temperatures alongside good heat stability make alginate ideal for use as thickeners, stabilizers, and restructuring agents. In addition, alginate is increasingly used in a myriad of newer applications, from encapsulating active enzymes and live bacteria, to acting as the carrier for protective coatings of prepacked, cut, or prepared fruits and vegetables. With certain chemical and biological modifications to alter its structures and properties, there are possibilities of novel applications of specific alginates in the food industry that have high bioactivities at low concentrations. Therefore food manufacturers, alginate producers, and food and nutrition scientists will need to work more closely together to develop more novel uses of alginate in the food and drink industry.