MPG Seminar 3

7th April 2026, 11 h Paris Time

A scientific seminar by Herve This vo Kientza

For a video link : HERE

For the powerpoint : HERE

Title :
How to use the ‘’New dispersed system formalism’’ for scientific research or innovation in food or other formulated products

Abstract :

Gels, emulsions, suspensions, foams and aerosols are colloidal systems that are ubiquitous in food and in other formulation activities. But often, they are more complex than what is defined by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, having more than one phase dispersed in another, or having microstructure that is not described by the classic and simple names. In the past years, new categories were envisioned (bigels, oleogels, etc.), but this is a tiny part of all what can be considered.
After 2001, a formalism was introduced to decribe any dispersed system, but it was improved to be become  the  ‘’New Dispersed Systems Formalism’’  (NDSF),  allowing  the description of the physical structure of any dispersed system, at any level : macroscopic, microscopic, mesoscopic, molecular.
Learning this formalism is very simple, and using it is extremely fruitful. For scientific research, first, it gives a way to be able thinking of systems, even complex, in a simple way, to decribe them, to categorize them, to rank them by order of increasing complexity, in order to organize the scientific studies. As well it opens the door for new scientific questions. For innovation, it allows considering dispersed systems that were not envisioned, with new physical and chemical properties. For example, using this formalims, gels were created with successive waves of flavours.

References :

   1. Hervé This Vo Kientza. Using the disperse system formalism, DSF, to determine the first two classes of complex suspensions. International Journal of Molecular and Physical Gastronomy, 2022, 2, 1-8. https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03764024
   2. Hervé This, DSR: frameworks guiding experimental work in science, Notes Académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France (N3AF), 2017 (8a), 1-14, avec des Supplemental Material N3AF-2017 (8a) – DSR: frameworks guiding experimental work in science
   3. Hervé This, A wealth of structures, a wealth of sensory results. The World of Food Ingredients, April-May 2017, 50-55. 
   4. Hervé This, What can “Artificial Meat” be? Note by note cooking offers a variety of answers, Notes Académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France (N3AF), 2016, 2(4), 1-10, https://doi.org/10.58630/pubac.not.a196614.
   5. Hervé This, Statgels and dynagels, 2016 Notes Académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France, / Academic Notes from the French Academy of Agriculture, 12, 1-12.

A short bio :

Herve This vo Kientza is a physical chemist  at Inrae and a consulting professor at AgroParisTech.
He manages the Inrae-AgroParisTech International Centre of Molecular and Physical Gstronomy :
https://icmpg.hub.inrae.fr/international-activities-of-the-international-centre-of-molecular-gastronomy