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Food

Periodic Graphics

Periodic Graphics: Food gelling agents explained

Chemical educator and Compound Interest blogger Andy Brunning cooks up an exploration of the chemical agents behind jellies and other food gels.

by Andy Brunning, special to C&EN
February 19, 2025 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 103, Issue 5
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Most Popular in Food

 

A graphic explaining the chemistry of agents that form food gels. The graphic lists four common gelling agents–agar, pectin, gelatin, and sodium alginate–and describes their uses and chemistry.
Credit: Andy Brunning

Test your knowledge of food gelling agents with our quiz

To download a pdf of this article, visit cenm.ag/food-agents.

References used to create this graphic:

Gastronomixs. “Making Jelly.” Gastronomixs, Nov. 3, 2021.

Imeson, Alan P., ed. Thickening and Gelling Agents for Food. Springer New York, 1997. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4615-2197-6.

Liu, Bin, Haixia Yang, Chenhui Zhu, Jianbo Xiao, Hui Cao, Jesus Simal-Gandara, Yujin Li, Daidi Fan, and Jianjun Deng. “A Comprehensive Review of Food Gels: Formation Mechanisms, Functions, Applications, and Challenges.” Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. (Aug. 12, 2022). DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2022.2108369.

A collaboration between C&EN and Andy Brunning, author of the popular graphics blog Compound Interest

To see more of Brunning’s work, go to compoundchem.com. To see all of C&EN’s Periodic Graphics, visit cenm.ag/periodicgraphics.

 

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