ABSTRACT
Proteins and polysaccharides have two main functions in food colloids: nutrition and structure-forming. Both functions are of great importance for the quality of food systems. Our current knowledge suggests that the intermolecular interactions involving biopolymers are central to understanding the biopolymer structure-forming functionality, as well as to controlling the texture/consistency, the physical stability, and the appearance of food colloids. Let us suppose that we can establish quantitative relationships between the structure on the colloidal scale and the interactions of biopolymers with each other and with all the low-molecularweight components of the system. Then we postulate that we can achieve a fundamental understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying the formation and stabilization of food colloids. This puts us in a position to develop promising ways of creating novel and tasty foods with the optimum compositions for health promotion and sensory pleasure.
