Hydrocolloids in the form of polymeric ingredients as well as natural biopolymer assemblies provide much of
the macroscopic structure of foods. The controlled disassembly of hydrocolloid-structured foods in the digestive
tract determines numerous nutritional properties driven by the rates of passage, digestion, absorption,
and fermentation. Despite convincing evidence for health benefits of hydrocolloids (particularly dietary
fibre) from epidemiology, and numerous in vitro model system studies, the detailed underlying mechanisms
operating in the digestive tract are currently understood to only a limited extent. Distinct hydrocolloid-based
processes occur in each of the gastric, small intestinal and large intestinal environments, with significant
biological cross-talk between the sites. Hydrocolloids offer a major opportunity to tailor nutritional value
and provide potential health benefits through control of gastric emptying and ileal brake mechanisms (satiety
and potentially obesity), glycemic response (diabetes), plasma cholesterol levels (cardiovascular disease),
and carbohydrate fermentation throughout the large intestine (colon cancer). There is often a parallel
between the functionality of the plant-based foods which the human digestive tract evolved to digest and
the use of extracted hydrocolloids in modern food structuring technology.