Computational modeling of gastric digestion and the role of food material properties

To fully characterize and model food digestion, an underpinning knowledge of the relationship between the disintegration rate of food structures and the dynamics of gastric contents during digestion needs to be developed. Under the scope of this paper, the possibility of using computational fluid dynamic techniques to obtain a unique insight and quantitative characterization of the 3-D dynamics of gastric contents is illustrated. In addition, the development of a new generation of in vitro systems, and their promising use to determine and model the disintegration rate of different food structures, under different physiological conditions, is addressed.