Terpou Antonia, Dahiya Divakar, Nigam Poonam Singh
Department of Agricultural Development, Agri-Food, and Natural Resources Management, School of Agricultural Development, Nutrition & Sustainability, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evripos Campus, 34400 Evia, Greece.
Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, Basingstoke RG24 9NA, UK.
Gels. 2025 Jul 23;11(8):569. doi: 10.3390/gels11080569.
The growing demand for sustainable, functional ingredients in the food industry has driven interest in marine-derived biopolymers. Among marine sources, microalgae represent a promising yet underexplored reservoir of bioactive gel-forming compounds, particularly extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs), both sulfated and non-sulfated, as well as proteins that exhibit unique gelling, emulsifying, and stabilizing properties. This study focuses on microalgal species with demonstrated potential to produce viscoelastic, shear-thinning gels, making them suitable for applications in food stabilization, texture modification, and nutraceutical delivery. Recent advances in biotechnology and cultivation methods have improved access to high-value strains, which exhibit promising physicochemical properties for the development of novel food textures, structured formulations, and sustainable food packaging materials. Furthermore, these microalgae-derived gels offer additional health benefits, such as antioxidant and prebiotic activities, aligning with current trends toward functional foods containing prebiotic materials. Key challenges in large-scale production, including low EPS productivity, high processing costs, and lack of regulatory frameworks, are critically discussed. Despite these barriers, advances in cultivation technologies and biorefinery approaches offer new avenues for commercial application. Overall, microalgal gels hold significant promise as sustainable, multifunctional ingredients for clean-label food formulations.
食品工业对可持续性功能成分的需求不断增长，引发了人们对海洋来源生物聚合物的兴趣。在海洋来源中，微藻是一种有前景但尚未充分探索的生物活性凝胶形成化合物的储存库，特别是细胞外多糖（EPS），包括硫酸化和非硫酸化的，以及具有独特凝胶化、乳化和稳定特性的蛋白质。本研究聚焦于具有产生粘弹性、剪切变稀凝胶潜力的微藻物种，使其适用于食品稳定、质地改良和营养递送应用。生物技术和培养方法的最新进展改善了获取高价值菌株的途径，这些菌株具有开发新型食品质地、结构化配方和可持续食品包装材料的有前景的物理化学性质。此外，这些微藻衍生的凝胶还具有额外的健康益处，如抗氧化和益生元活性，符合当前对含益生元材料的功能性食品的趋势。文中还批判性地讨论了大规模生产中的关键挑战，包括EPS生产率低、加工成本高和缺乏监管框架。尽管存在这些障碍，但培养技术和生物精炼方法的进展为商业应用提供了新途径。总体而言，微藻凝胶作为清洁标签食品配方的可持续、多功能成分具有巨大潜力。
