fine tuning structure formation with oil droplets in gel matrices using competing destabilizing mechanisms.

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It is well established that a better understanding of the structural hierarchies present in food matrices is of great significance in terms of shelf life and consumer's acceptability of food products. However, only recently, it has become evident that better design of food structures is also important to formulate healthier products, optimize flavour release, and more importantly, tailor biological functionality during digestive breakdown. These findings represent a paradigm shift in the way we approach product development and clearly point out the necessity for deriving principles of structure design. We are proposing an in depth study of the formation of structure in food matrices, by looking at the interactions occurring in model food platforms, containing fat globules in biopolymers' networks. Indeed, while we know a great deal on how to design stable oil droplets, or how to control the formation of structure in model gels containing proteins or polysaccharides in isolation, much less is understood of the interactions occurring in mixed matrices undergoing competing destabilizing reactions - and this is usually the case in making food products. In oil-in-water emulsions, the physico-chemical properties and the processing behaviour of the droplets are ruled by the components adsorbed at the interface. The unadsorbed polymers will also determine characteristics of the structure. For example, a non-interacting biopolymer in the soluble phase may cause phase separation by a depletion mechanism; alternatively, biopolymers may adsorb at the interface and bridge between oil droplets, making the droplets integral part of the protein network. While systems have been well characterized in isolation, much less is understood on the dynamics of change occurring when multiple reactions happen at once. Fine-tuning of phase separation during gelation may control the formation of clusters and the creation of differently filled gels.