Preface

Hydrocolloids are among the most commonly used and versatile ingredients in the food industry. They function as thickeners, gelling agents, texturizers, stabilizers, and emulsifiers; they also have applications in the areas of edible coatings and flavor release. Manufactured foods that are reformulated for reduced fat rely primarily on hydrocolloids to provide suitable sensory quality. Furthermore, hydrocolloids are currently finding increasing applications in the health arena; they provide low-calorie dietary fiber, among many other uses.

Many books have been devoted to descriptions of the different water-soluble polymers (hydrocolloids) and their uses. In 1965, a monograph by M. Glicksman, Gum Technology in the Food Industry (Academic Press), presented a technical compilation of information in the area of hydrocolloid technology as it pertains to the food industry. The need for such a book was apparent to most food technologists and scientists, particularly those engaged in the development of convenience foods. Glicksman followed that book with three more volumes (1982-1984) entitled Food Hydrocolloids, volumes I, II, and III (CRC Press). Volume I was composed of two parts, the first dealing with comparative properties of hydrocolloids and the second with biosynthetic gums. Volume II dealt with natural food exudates and seaweed extracts, and Volume III described cellulose gums, plant seed gums, and plant extracts. Those books were much more comprehensive than Glicksman's first monograph and were very useful for both food technologists and academics.

In 1982, an excellent book entitled Handbook of Water-Soluble Gums and Resins (McGraw Hill Company) was edited by R. L. Davidson. The book comprised 23 chapters written by advisors and contributors from universities and the industry. It contained information on where water-soluble gums and resins come from, how they are used, how they work, and their individual uses to obtain specific properties and performance. It gave an encyclopedic description of the major commercial varieties of both natural and synthetic gums and resins, each listing beginning with a concise overview, followed by full details on the chemistry, properties, handling uses, and other pertinent factors.

In 1997, a monograph by one of us (A. Nussinovitch) entitled Hydrocolloid Applications: Gum Technology in the Food and Other Industries (Blackie Academic & Professional) was published, comprised of two parts. The first dealt briefly with describing the known hydrocolloids. The second was devoted to information, which is more difficult to locate, namely uses of hydrocolloids in ceramics, cosmetics, and explosives, for glues, for immobilization and encapsulation, in inks and paper, and for the creation of spongy matrices, textiles, and different texturized products. Another monograph by A. Nussinovitch entitled Water-Soluble Polymer Application in Foods (Blackwell Science) from 2003 was devoted to the uses of hydrocolloids in foods and in biotechnology and discussed topics such as hydrocolloid adhesives, hydrocolloid coatings, dry macro- and liquid-core capsules, multilayered products, flavor encapsulation, texturization, cellular solids, and hydrocolloids in the production of special textures. Yet another monograph by A. Nussinovitch from 2010, Plant Gum Exudates of the World: Sources, Distribution, Properties and Applications (CRC), provided a description of the most extensive collection of plant gum exudates in print. The book included a chapter specifically devoted to food uses of plant exudates, including confectionery, salad dressings and sauces, frozen products, spray-dried products, wine, adhesives, baked products, and beverages, among many other industrial products and animal foods.

In 2021, the 3rd edition of Handbook of Hydrocolloids, edited by G. O. Phillips and P. A. Williams (Woodhead Publishing, an imprint of Elsevier), was published. This excellent book reviewed hydrocolloids obtained from plants and trees, seaweed, bacteria, and fungi together with chapters on chitin derived from crustaceans, collagen and gelatin from animals, flaxseed gum and mustard gum, as well as dendronan and beta glucans from fungal sources. The introductory chapter gives an overview of the main hydrocolloids, their regulatory status, a comparison of their thickening and gelation properties, their ability to control the stability of emulsions and dispersions and their function as dietary fiber. The book also includes chapters dealing with techniques for the chemical and physicochemical characterization of hydrocolloids, oral processing and tribology, mixed hydrocolloid systems, hydrocolloids for the encapsulation and delivery of active compounds and their application as edible films, coatings, and food packaging, as well as a chapter on the health aspects of hydrocolloids, reviewing their impact on gut health, digestion, and the absorption of nutrients and postprandial plasma constituents.

The practical guide book: Food Stabilizers, Thickeners and Gelling Agents (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), edited by A. Imeson, reviewed the incorporation of hydrocolloids into foods to give them structure, flow, stability, and the eating qualities desired by consumers.

These are just a few examples of the wealth of material covering this field of science. Note that the inclusion of a book in this short list does not imply that it is any better than other published books on hydrocolloids or their widespread applications.

Although food recipes could be found in a few of these many books, there had been no scientific books fully devoted to the fascinating topic of hydrocolloids and their unique applications in the kitchen. A kitchen can be regarded as an experimental laboratory, with food preparation and cookery involving processes that are well described by the chemical or physical sciences. It is well established that an understanding of the chemistry and physics of cooking, and of the involvement of different ingredients (such as hydrocolloids) in these processes, will lead to improved performance and increased innovation in this realm. Since the use of hydrocolloids is on the rise in many fields, the writing of a book that covers both past and future uses of hydrocolloids in the kitchen was both timely and of great interest. In 2013, we co-authored the book Cooking Innovations: Using Hydrocolloids for Thickening, Gelling and Emulsification (CRC, Taylor & Francis Group). That very successful book did not include several very important hydrocolloids, among them chitin and chitosan, gum karaya, gum tragacanth, and milk proteins. These were included in our book (CRC, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018) More Cooking Innovations: Novel Hydrocolloids for Special Dishes, which completed the work of the first volume. In this latter volume, we added chapters on unique hydrocolloids that, in our opinion, will not only be used in future cooking but can pave the way to new and fascinating recipes and cooking techniques. These books were much more than just traditional cookbooks. The useful, albeit not always purely theoretical background provided for the different hydrocolloids was extensive and to the point. We made an attempt to include not only recipes that everyone can follow within the confines of their own kitchen - be they professional chefs or amateur cooks, but also products and scientific experiments that can be conducted and studied in university laboratories, such as those currently being performed by one of the authors (M. Hirashima) in Japan. As such, these books can be used as textbooks for cooking science and food-processing classes and provide recipes that can be scaled up for industrial use, making them ideal for food technologists and engineers. They bridge the gap between scientist and chef, or in fact anyone who is interested in novel applications and textures in the kitchen. In addition, they were designed to serve as a guide for all those who want to introduce the fascinating world of hydrocolloids to the public. These cooking books serve to advance both the evolution and revolution of hydrocolloid uses in today's kitchen. If in 1965, Glicksman's first book about hydrocolloids paved the way for those who were trying to use hydrocolloids in food technology, cooking, and the industry, these two books on cooking innovations shed light on some hydrocolloids that were not well known 50?years ago and that can produce fantastic recipes and unique results.

The format of most hydrocolloid textbooks, including our scientific cooking books, consists of a chapter for each hydrocolloid that provides data on its chemical and physical properties, then more or less detailed information on its possible inclusion in a particular food formulation(s), followed every now and then by a brief explanation of how the hydrocolloid contributes to the food's texture, eliminating or decreasing problems such as syneresis, improving stability, etc.

The current book, Use of Hydrocolloids to Control Food Appearance, Flavor, Texture and Nutrition, aims to present the whole field of hydrocolloid utilization in foods from a totally different angle. In accordance with Professor Bourne's classical book on Food Texture and Viscosity: Concept and Measurement (Academic Press, 2002), the four principal quality factors in foods are appearance, flavor, texture, and nutrition. Appearance covers color, shape, size, gloss, appealing to the visual sense. Flavor comprises taste and odor. Texture is primarily the response of the tactile senses to physical stimuli, and nutrition includes major...