Research Progress on the Preparation and Application of Food-grade Gel Particles

Gel particles are microgel macromolecules with particle morphology,which are formed with a three-dimensional network structure on the microscopic by the crosslinking of macromolecular polymers. Gel particles have stable network structure,and it can be dispersed in solution with hydrodynamic properties at the macroscopic level. Gel particles are prepared by separating or breaking them by mechanical methods such as extrusion,spray drying,shearing and high-pressure homogenization method,to make the solution containing micron or nanometer gel particles. Because it has both gel and hydrodynamic properties,it can be used to protect and deliver the nutritional factors. The gel particles have good stability and can be used as stabilizers to make Pickering emulsion. In this paper,different types and several mechanical methods of preparing gel particles at home and abroad were summarized,and current application in food industry was introduced,which laid a foundation for further research on the application of gel particles.