Hydrocolloids and food

Basic overview of Hydrocolloids

What is a hydrocolloid?

As Journal of food science and technology suggests: ” Hydrocolloids are a heterogeneous group of long chain polymers (polysaccharides and proteins) characterized by their property of forming viscous dispersions and/or gels when dispersed in water. Presence of a large number of hydroxyl (-OH) groups markedly increases their affinity for binding water molecules rendering them hydrophilic compounds. Further, they produce a dispersion, which is intermediate between a true solution and a suspension, and exhibits the properties of a colloid. Considering these two properties, they are aptly termed as ‘hydrophilic colloids’ or ‘hydrocolloids’.”