Bigels: An Innovative Hybrid of Hydrogels/Oleogels for Food Applications

Gels are systems that consist of solid and liquid components and have a semisolid consistency. Both hydrogels and oleogels are types of gels; the difference between the two lies in the polarity of the solvent entrapped in the gel. In their natural state, hydrogels are polar, while oleogels are apolar systems. Combining oleogels with hydrogels results in the creation of a new kind of gel system called bigels. There have been discoveries of applications for bigels in a wide variety of industries, including the food business, the pharmaceutical industry, and the biomedical industry, among others. In order to properly describe their properties, several distinct procedures, including microscopic techniques, thermal characterization, and rheological approaches, are used. Texture analyzers (also known as static mechanical testers) are used in the process of identifying the mechanistic properties of these systems. In order to explore the interactions between the molecules, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy are used in the research process to explore the interactions between the molecules. In this chapter, the primary focus is placed on different types of bigel systems, materials used in their formation, the factors that affect their properties, the techniques used to characterize them, and the applications of these techniques, especially in the field of food science.