title: Application of ITC in foods: A powerful tool for understanding the gastrointestinal fate of lipophilic compounds.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a biophysical technique widely used to study molecular interactions in biological and non-biological systems. It can provide important information about molecular interactions (such as binding constant, number of binding sites, free energy, enthalpy, and entropy) simply by measuring the heat absorbed or released during an interaction between two liquid solutions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this review, we present an overview of ITC applications in food science, with particular focus on understanding the fate of lipids within the human gastrointestinal tract. In this area, ITC can be used to study micellization of bile salts, inclusion complex formation, the interaction of surface-active molecules with proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, and the interactions of lipid droplets.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ITC is an extremely powerful tool for measuring molecular interactions in food systems, and can provide valuable information about many types of interactions involving food components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, surfactants, and minerals. For systems at equilibrium, ITC can provide fundamental thermodynamic parameters that can be used to establish the physiochemical origin of molecular interactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is expected that ITC will continue to be utilized as a means of providing fundamental information about complex materials such as those found in foods. This knowledge may be used to create functional foods designed to behave in the gastrointestinal tract in a manner that will improve human health and well-being.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: iarroyo@foodsci.umass.edu.
authors.forename: Izlia J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Arroyo-Maya
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: mcclements@foodsci.umass.edu.
authors.forename: David Julian
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: McClements
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry*; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000737:chemistry*; D001682:Biological Availability; D002151:Calorimetry / Q000379:methods; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000737:chemistry*; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000032:analysis; D004063:Digestion / Q000502:physiology; D005502:Food / Q000145:classification; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008823:Micelles; D010840:Phytosterols / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D008055:Lipids; D008823:Micelles; D010840:Phytosterols; D002338:Carotenoids
keywords: Aggregation; Binding; Digestion; Foods; Gastrointestinal; Micelles