Air Extrusion System for Ionotropic Alginate Microgel Particle Formation: A Review

Ionotropic alginate microgels are commonly used for bioencapsulation applications and the air extrusion system is one of the common methods employed to produce these microgels. Although there have been many individual studies, to date no single report has comprehensively summarized the findings and results of the usage of this system. This review gives insight into the air extrusion methods, covering the setup, type, and characteristics of the system, focusing on their innovative aspects. Characterization techniques for the resulting microgels are presented, along with the influence of process variables on the product size and the development of empirical models for size prediction.