The growing demand for sustainable, functional, and nutritionally enhanced foods has intensified the search for alternative ingredients capable of meeting both technological and health-related requirements. In this context, mushrooms have emerged as promising multifunctional resources due to their nutritional composition, bioactive compounds, and techno-functional properties. This review provides a critical analysis of mushroom-based ingredients, focusing on the relationship between fractionation, structure, and techno-functionality, and their role in innovative food products.

Highlights

• Non-thermal gels offer alternatives to traditional thermal gels.
• pH, enzymes, ions, and shear can structure oils without thermal treatment.
• Templated and porous-based gels broaden non-thermal fat design routes.
• Non-thermal methods reduce oxidative damage caused by thermal.
• Sorbent-based systems suit foods needing oil retention and structure.

... mechanisms, structure-function relationships, modification strategies, and emerging food applications

Highlights

• Clarifies thermal and non-thermal gelation mechanisms and key interactions.
• Examines intrinsic and extrinsic factors governing multiscale gel network formation.
• Reviews physical, chemical, and biological strategies for improving gel properties.
• Links gel structure to functionality and summarizes diverse food applications.
• Discusses future directions including modeling and cross-disciplinary innovations.

Although nondairy yogurt alternatives may offer environmental advantages over conventional dairy products, their broader adoption is often constrained by textural limitations, which remain a major barrier to consumer acceptance. Addressing texture deficiencies requires strategic ingredient selection and optimized processing techniques.

Highlights

• Early research aimed to define universal principles for the ‘ideal’ pairing.
• Over time, the search for an ‘ideal’ pairing was replaced by context-specific suitability.
• Successful pairings create memorable emotional experiences, not just sensory harmony.
• Recent studies show successful pairings are deeply cultural, not universal.
• Pairing local food and wine is a key trend for sustainability and authenticity.

Changes in eating behavior toward a more plant-forward and sustainable diet may be enhanced by preparing vegetables with tastes, especially umami, which humans crave but plants generally lack due to fundamental plant biology. The traditional Japanese food cultures have over millennia developed ways to umamify vegetables in meals with little or no meat. This reflection paper explores how elements of traditional Japanese food cultures may facilitate a green dietary transition by promoting the use of umami-rich seasonings and condiments to umamify plant foods, increase their palatability, minimize food waste, and hence support sustainability. By enhancing umami and flavor attributes (koku), Japanese culinary practices demonstrate how dishes with little or no meat still can provide satisfying and flavorful meals.

The bean-to-bar movement, which emerged in the United States in 1996, represents a transformative approach to chocolate production and consumption by integrating craftsmanship, sustainability, and gastronomic authenticity. This study conducted a literature review using the narrative approach, as the object of investigation encompasses both conceptual, sensory, technological, and market dimensions that are not always consolidated in formal scientific databases.