The fundamental mechanisms of nutrient release from solid foods during gastric digestion consists of multiple elementary processes. These include the diffusion of gastric juice into the food matrix and its simultaneous enzymatic degradation and mechanical breakdown by the peristaltic activity of the stomach. Understanding the relative role of these key processes, in association with the composition and structure of foods, is of paramount importance for the design and manufacture of novel foods possessing specific target behavior within the body. This review covers the past and current literature with respect to the in-stomach processes leading to physical and biochemical disintegration of solid foods and release of nutrients. The review outlines recent progress in experimental and modeling methods used for studying food disintegration mechanisms and concludes with a discussion on potential future research directions in this field. Information from pharmaceutical science-based modeling approaches describing nutrient release kinetics as a result of food disintegration in the gastric environment is also reviewed. Future research aimed at understanding gastric digestion is important not only for setting design principles for novel food design but also for understanding mechanisms underpinning dietary guidelines to consume wholesome foods.
Keywords: Biochemical degradation; gastric juice diffusion; mechanical breakdown; peristaltic activity; solid foods.