Microfluidic intestinal-chips as next-generation modeling strategies: Multifaceted emerging applications in food research, functional foods and personalized nutrition.
6 affiliations
- 1Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Nutritional Health, Institute of Seafood, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China.
- 2Hangzhou Institute for Food and Drug Control, Hangzhou, 310022, China.
- 3Department of Surgery, Jinhua Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Jinhua, Zhejiang, 321000, China.
- 4Key Laboratory of Medicine-Food Homology Innovation and Transformation, Department of Gastroenterology, Hangzhou Linping District Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, Hangzhou, 311100, China.
- 5Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Clinical Research, Institute of Seafood, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, 310012, China.
- 6Panvascular Diseases Research Center, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, 324000, China.
Abstract
Food digestion and absorption are essential functions of the human gut and the cornerstone of food research. This article has reviewed the core modeling strategies of intestinal-chips, and their application in the field of food science research, including precise evaluation of nutritional efficacy, food safety risk prediction, innovative development of functional foods and construction of personalized nutritional intervention strategies. Although microfluidic intestinal-chips have addressed some limitations inherent to traditional models, they still face technical challenges in fully replicating the intestinal microenvironment, as well as neural innervation, vascular perfusion and systemic immune responses. Currently, intestinal-chips are accelerating their integration with advanced technologies such as biomaterials, stem cell science, gene editing, 3-D bioprinting and artificial intelligence, to continuously enhance the physiological fidelity, support the optimization of food processing techniques and accelerate the development of new functional foods. These advancements of intestinal-chips won't only substantially promote the industrialization of next-generation food innovations such as cell-cultured meat and synthetic biology foods, but also drive nutritional science research from group recommendations to individualized decision-making. This technology thus provides an indispensable in vitro experimental platform and transformation acceleration engine for achieving "precision nutrition targeting the gut".
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BibTeX
@article{feng2026microfluidic,
title = {{Microfluidic intestinal-chips as next-generation modeling strategies: Multifaceted emerging applications in food research, functional foods and personalized nutrition.}},
author = {Junli Feng and Hejian Zhu and Yan Peng and Liqin Lin and Jingzi Yao and Xiuqin Fan and Jiayan Shen and Jing Xue and Zejun Wang and Guofang Shen and Qing Shen},
journal = {Current research in food science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.crfs.2026.101593},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903822},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Microfluidic intestinal-chips as next-generation modeling strategies: Multifaceted emerging applications in food research, functional foods and personalized nutrition.
AU - Junli Feng
AU - Hejian Zhu
AU - Yan Peng
AU - Liqin Lin
AU - Jingzi Yao
AU - Xiuqin Fan
AU - Jiayan Shen
AU - Jing Xue
AU - Zejun Wang
AU - Guofang Shen
AU - Qing Shen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Current research in food science
DO - 10.1016/j.crfs.2026.101593
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903822
AB - Food digestion and absorption are essential functions of the human gut and the cornerstone of food research. This article has reviewed the core modeling strategies of intestinal-chips, and their application in the field of food science research, including precise evaluation of nutritional efficacy, food safety risk prediction, innovative development of functional foods and construction of personalized nutritional intervention strategies. Although microfluidic intestinal-chips have addressed some limitations inherent to traditional models, they still face technical challenges in fully replicating the intestinal microenvironment, as well as neural innervation, vascular perfusion and systemic immune responses. Currently, intestinal-chips are accelerating their integration with advanced technologies such as biomaterials, stem cell science, gene editing, 3-D bioprinting and artificial intelligence, to continuously enhance the physiological fidelity, support the optimization of food processing techniques and accelerate the development of new functional foods. These advancements of intestinal-chips won't only substantially promote the industrialization of next-generation food innovations such as cell-cultured meat and synthetic biology foods, but also drive nutritional science research from group recommendations to individualized decision-making. This technology thus provides an indispensable in vitro experimental platform and transformation acceleration engine for achieving "precision nutrition targeting the gut".
SN - 2665-9271
ER -