Mechanisms, physiology, and recent research progress of gastric emptying

Abstract

Gastric emptying refers to a process in which the stomach discharges its contents into the small intestine to further digest and absorb nutrients. Understanding the mechanisms of gastric emptying and relationships between food and individuals is of paramount importance for the design and manufacture of novel and healthy foods. For ethical and cost reasons, in vivo tests are not always possible. In vitro digestion models therefore play a key role in current exploration of gastric emptying. This review outlines the mechanisms and physiology of gastric emptying, including calories, viscosity, composition of the food, age and gender of the individual. In addition, recent progress on in vitro static and dynamic gastric digestion models and future research trends are included in this review.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Age
• digestion
• gastric emptying
• in vitro model
• physiology

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY18C200005), project of Zhejiang Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center of Food Safety and Nutrition (2017SICR103), the Talent Project of Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology (2018YCGC235).