Abstract: Food colloids refer to the common multicomponent heterogeneous dispersion systems found in foods, which can be divided into protein-based and polysaccharide-based colloids according to their components. Those colloids play an important role in food processing, such as thickening, emulsification, suspension, gelling, adhesion, water retention, stabilization and film formation, and are widely used in many fields such as the food processing industry. This article reviews the basic concept, composition, and classification of food colloids, with an emphasis on the functional properties of common polysaccharide-based colloids (carrageenan, agar, sodium alginate, Arabic gum, guar gum, konjac glucomannan, xanthan gum, gellan gum and curdlan) including rheological properties, gel properties, stability and combined use. Furthermore, this article also summarizes the current status and future perspectives of colloids based on polysaccharides from marine algae, plants and microbes in the food processing industry. We believe that this review will provide a theoretical basis for further development and utilization of polysaccharide-based food colloids.

Key words: food colloid; polysaccharide; gel properties; functional properties; food processing