Hydrocolloids in human digestion: Dynamic in-vitro assessment of the effect of food formulation on mass transfer

Over the last decade the effect of food formulation on digestion in healthy adults has increasingly gained interest within the scientific community. The area requires multidisciplinary skills from a wide range of fields including medical, chemical, and engineering. In this work, we aim to develop simplified in-vitro intestinal models to study the effect of mass transfer on food digestibility and nutrient bioaccessibility for a range of food hydrocolloids. The models developed aim to mimic intestinal motility and focus on describing phenomena occurring during digestion in the mm scale. Results indicate that hydrocolloids have a significant effect in retarding simulated glucose accessibility, and the effects are seemingly more pronounced (fivefold reduction in mass transfer and simulated glucose absorption) at viscosities around 0.01 Pa s. This indicates the potential to modulate glucose availability by food formulation.