Technological Means to Modulate Food Digestion and Physiological Response

Abstract Designing food products to modulate digestion and ultimately physiological responses is a growing area of interest in the food industry. There is indeed a rising awareness toward functional foods, which can be defined as foods that, beyond their role as nutrient carriers, affect beneficially one or more target functions in the body and accordingly promote health. In the present chapter, we aim to illustrate through different examples how to tailor designed functional properties for macronutrients: proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. Indeed, in addition to their nutritional profile, the structural and physicochemical characteristics of macronutrients within a food matrix may lead to different digest compositions, with different delivery outcomes in the gastrointestinal tract, and therefore may trigger different physiological responses. The development of different technological means of changing the structure of the main macronutrients to modulate the properties of in vitro digests and in vivo biological responses will be shown, highlighting the close link between food science, technology and nutrition and health science.