Glycation influencing lubrication: Tribology principles derived from nature to inspire future food colloid design

Glycation, i.e., the covalent reaction between reactive carbonyl groups of sugar with biomolecules such as protein, lipid, or DNA, is integral to many physiological functions, including biolubrication. Although glycation, also commonly termed as “Maillard reaction”, has been used extensively to modify flavors and stabilize food colloids, its applications for achieving desired oral lubrication performance of food are in its infancy. This review discusses glycation as a biolubrication tool to provide stimulus to future designing of food colloids. Specifically, we examine how glycation drives biolubrication of soft tissues with examples of lubricin and mucin as “brush-like”, nature-engineered, high performance, aqueous lubricants. Recent advances in Maillard conjugation to modify tribology, rheology, adsorption, or surface hydrophobicity of dietary proteins are covered. Lastly, we transfer molecular rules from polymer physics to food colloid science to inspire repurposing glycation of dietary proteins to rationally design the next-generation of lubricious alternative protein-based foods that are often delubricating.