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Foaming Characteristics of Beverages and Its Relevance to Food Processing

Springer Nature
Food Engineering Reviews
Authors:
  • Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur, India
  • National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management - Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T)
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Abstract and Figures

Aeration in beverages, which is manifested as foam or bubbles, increases the sensory preference among consumers. They are either entrapped within the beverage or float at the surface. It is a unique feature that allows the product to garner considerable consumer attention and has been appreciated in hot as well as cold beverages. Recent studies have focused on diverse foam or bubble creation protocols, their mechanism of action, stabilization techniques, and application domains in various beverages. The role of surface-active components in foam formation and its stability are important in food processing. This exposition discusses the important findings on this subject, including methods of creation, sustenance, as well as analysis of foaming or aeration in liquid foods, and attempts to showcase their various dimensions. Recent developments on the various aspects of foam formation in liquid foods are reviewed and presented to aid in future research.
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Foaming Characteristics of Beverages and Its Relevance
to Food Processing
Shweta Deotale
1
&Sayantani Dutta
1
&J. A. Moses
1
&V. M. Balasubramaniam
2
&C. Anandharamakrishnan
1
Received: 6 May 2019 /Accepted: 25 February 2020 /Published online: 25 March 2020
#Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
Aeration in beverages, which is manifested as foam or bubbles, increases the sensory preference among consumers. They are
either entrapped within the beverage or float at the surface. It is a unique feature that allows the product to garner considerable
consumer attention and has been appreciated in hot as well as cold beverages. Recent studies have focused on diverse foam or
bubble creation protocols, their mechanism of action, stabilization techniques, and application domains in various beverages. The
role of surface-active components in foam formation and its stability are important in food processing. This exposition discusses
the important findings on this subject, including methods of creation, sustenance, as well as analysis of foaming or aeration in
liquid foods, and attempts to showcase their various dimensions. Recent developments on the various aspects of foam formation
in liquid foods are reviewed and presented to aid in future research.
Keywords Foam .Bubble .Aeration .Carbonation .Beverages .Stabilization
Introduction
Aerated food products are popular among consumers around
theglobe.Theyhavebeenconsumedasbothsolidandliquid
foods. Aerated foods are believed to have been first observed
about 6000 years ago as the raised dough of bread in Egypt
[21]. Besides solid foods, in recent times, liquid foods have
benefitted substantially from aeration, with respect to their
variation in type, as well as in consumer acceptance.
Aeration in foods is often manifested as bubbles. Owing to
their visual appeal and sensory perception, bubbles have been
attracting consumer attention in foods for quite some time
[20]. In fact, air bubbles or foam or froth is a hallmark of many
liquid foods and beverages such as carbonated soft drinks,
beer, wine, cappuccino coffee, whipped cream, and ice cream.
Incorporation of air in beverages is reported to improve the
body and acceptability [19,98]. The present review provides a
comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of food bubbles,
their role in aerated foods, the mechanism of bubble forma-
tion, and impacts of such a feature on the food industry. The
subsequent section discusses the fundamentals of foams and
bubbles in food systems to truly understand their role. It de-
lineates the basics of food foams and their role in creating
market demand and their effect on the products image among
consumers.
Fundamentals of Foams and Bubbles in Food
Foam is generated by incorporation of gas such as nitrogen or
carbon dioxide in a liquid or semi-solid phase [66,116]. The
blind Belgian scientist, Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau,
was the first to discover foam sciencein 1873. Many re-
searchers today even suggest that the 21st century would be a
foam age[21].Foams are diverse and are classified into dry
foam, wet foam, static foam, and dynamic foam. These types
have subtypes as stable foam, metastable foam, and unstable
foam, depending upon the interfaces [141]. Recently, food
foams have been created from novel sources such as cod,
mushroom, and potatoes using lecithin and gelatin as an alter-
native foaming agent to egg and cream [116].
Surface area, surface energy, and surface tension play impor-
tant roles in the formation of bubbles in a liquid. The surface
*C. Anandharamakrishnan
anandharamakrishnan@iifpt.edu.in
1
Computational Modeling and Nanoscale Processing Unit, Indian
Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT), Ministry of Food
Processing Industries, Government of India, Thanjavur 613005,
India
2
Department of Food Science and Technology & Department of Food
Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University,
Columbus, OH, USA
Food Engineering Reviews (2020) 12:229250
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-020-09213-4
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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