Demystifying the creation of edible spheres

Spherification is a molecular gastronomy technique used to create beverage pearls, which can enhance the appearance and texture of a dish and may be used to develop functional food encapsulating bioactive compounds. In the basic spherification method, a beverage is combined with sodium alginate and dropped to a calcium chloride bath, where it forms spheres. As calcium ions diffuse into these spheres, they form a skin.

While this technique is accessible, cost effective, and versatile, a lack of data on the calcium diffusion makes it difficult to predict optimal bath immersion time for different beverages. Suzan Tireki studied calcium diffusion during the basic spherification method.

Tireki measured the sizes and weights of pearls made from six types of beverages with varying immersion times. The author then developed an equation to estimate the diffusion coefficient of calcium ions during spherification for different beverages.

“Understanding this diffusion behavior is critical for optimizing spherification time, leading to less trial and error and more time and cost savings,” Tireki said. “By demystifying the science behind basic spherification, this research empowers culinary professionals, product developers, and academic researchers to achieve standardized, scalable recipes with consistent quality, and will accelerate the broader application of this transformative culinary practice.”

The appearance of beverage pearls is also important. Tireki used microscopy to examine the pearls’ surface imperfections, and quantified the color change of pearls immersed for 15 minutes. Iced tea pearls changed color the most, whereas orange juice changed the least.

Next, Tireki will investigate the quality of beverage pearls made with reverse spherification, the technique used to create spheres out of liquids containing calcium-rich ingredients.

Source: “Basic spherification as a gelation application in the kitchen: Diffusion coefficient estimation and appearance quality of beverage pearl,” by Suzan Tireki, Physics of Fluids (2025). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0246163 .

This paper is part of the Kitchen Flows 2024 Collection, learn more here .