Conventional and Innovative Food Applications of Alginate-Based Hydrogels

Abstract

Alginate is widely used in food industry due to its numerous properties such as thickening capacity, ability to form hydrogels, films, and coatings. Besides, alginic acid and its salts are authorized for their use in a wide range of food products by competent health authorities worldwide. Among the applications of alginate, the most important are those that involve alginate-based hydrogels. In this chapter, it is described conventional applications of alginate hydrogels in food, as well as newer biotechnological uses that promise to be very attractive to the industrial sector. For each described application, advantages of using these systems are mentioned and examples of commercial applications in different food products are given, as well as developments at academic and research level. Thus, it is deepened in the use of alginate hydrogels in restructured food, immobilization and encapsulation systems, absorption of heavy metal ions, besides food packaging and coatings.