Aerated food gels: fabrication and potential applications

Aerated gels contain both bubbles and entrapped water, thus offering ample versatility in product development. Dispersed air (or other gases) provides an additional phase within the gel that may accommodate new textural and functional demands. Many food polymers form gels and their target properties may be enhanced by combining materials (mixed polymer gels) or introducing a finely dispersed fat phase (emulsion gels). Traditional methods to generate bubbles in foods as well as non-conventional technologies (membrane processes, microfluidics, etc.) are revised and their potential applications in producing aerated gels are discussed. Aerated gels may find applications in reducing the caloric density of foods and inducing satiety, as carriers of flavors and nutrients, and in novel gastronomic structures.