THE FORMULATION DESIGN OF ELDERLY SPECIAL DIETS

Texture is important not only for food palatability but also for the safety of eating in recent aged society. For the elderlies, particularly those with reduced capability of eating, textural properties of food products should be modified from rheological, colloidal and tribological aspects to make the products friendly to these people. Formulation design for the texture of elderly special diets is now one of the most important tasks in Japanese food industry, and actually Japan is leading the product development by its diversity and quality. In this article, recent research progress on the formulation design of elderly special diets is presented mainly from industrial point of view by focusing on food texture. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This article can enlighten food industry on usefulness of polysaccharides as a texture modifier in elderly special diets. For the elderlies, safe consumption should be a prerequisite for eating pleasure, and thus texture deign using polysaccharides can lead to improved quality of life. To understand associated working criteria is important for the industry not only from technical but also commercial aspects. In total, this article can contribute to the enhancement of motivation for product development of elderly special diets.