Advances on alginate use for spherification to encapsulate biomolecules

Spherification methods to produce particles of millimetric size are detailed in this review, especially for encapsulation purpose and using alginate. Therefore, alginate properties and factors impacting its gelation, counting its structure and experimental conditions such as pH, temperature, crosslinker concentration, residence time and ionic strength, are largely discussed. Furthermore, the interest for using co-polymer in spherification is investigated. Thereby, alginate composite gels can enhance encapsulation efficiency, mechanical stability, barrier properties and thermal stability. The advantages and limitations of their use are discussed for each spherification process to improve the knowledge about alginate versatility. Alginate is still one of the most promising encapsulation materials.