Formation and stability of food foams and aerated emulsions: Hydrophobins as novel functional ingredients

Foams remain an invaluable part of the food engineer's arsenal. Unfortunately the number of new molecules available to stabilise foams is starting to dwindle. Partially, this is due to the difficulties of finding new species with favourable properties and, in many respects, this trend is led by a commercial need to make food labels ‘green’. Food grade proteins offer a number of potential solutions, as well as some excellent physical properties, when at the air–water interface. This review will use the example of hydrophobins as useful proteins finding applications within the food industry. It will also serve as a case study to examine potential methods to identify other new and potentially useful molecules. [Display omitted] •Food foams are diverse, dynamic and highly industrially relevant systems.•New foam stabilising molecules are difficult to integrate into the food industry.•Proteins offer a diverse and highly customisable new palette for the food engineer.•Hydrophobins offer a fantastic case study for new and promising proteins.•Bioinformatics holds a potential key for the more targeted development of food.