Gel Technology for Development of Bioactive Foodstuffs

Dear Colleagues,

Contemporary lifestyles are responsible for the increased prevalence of several diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. This fact is leading to an increase in consumer demand for functional foods with proven health benefits. In this way, the incorporation of bioactive compounds (e.g., phenolic compounds, carotenoids, bioactive lipids, vitamins) into food systems is one of the most important strategies used by the food industry to meet consumer needs. However, most of these compounds are chemically sensitive to environmental stresses (e.g., heat, light, oxygen, enzymes), have poor water or oil solubility and display low bioavailability. To overcome these disadvantages, different delivery solutions have been developed, particularly involving gels. These soft materials are built up with a liquid phase entrapped within a 3D network, which can be a carrier for bioactive food ingredients. Gels can be designed in the water phase (hydrogels, emulsion gels, bigels) or oil phase (organogels, bigels) for the purpose of modulating their delivery performances. Hydrogels produced from proteins or polysaccharides are suitable for the delivery of hydrophilic ingredients. Organogels are produced by the self-assembly of gelator molecules in the oil phase, and they offer good carriers for lipophilic ingredients. Emulsion gels and bigels, containing both aqueous and oil phases, can deliver lipophilic and hydrophilic ingredients simultaneously. In addition, these structures can also be used as fat replacers to improve foods nutritional quality and meet the recommendations of lowering the intake of unhealthy fats. Thus, this Issue seeks to spotlight the application of gels in the food industry for food fortification or to act as fat replacers. 

Dr. Manuela Machado
Dr. Ana Maria Gomes
Dr. Eduardo M. Costa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.