Free radicals are responsible for off-flavor formation in foods – Do you want to know how it affects sustainable food proteins?

This project will focus on analysis of free radical using Electro Spin Resonance (ESR) and mass spectrometry (MS). ESR will be used to characterize the nature of the radicals and in which type of molecules they bind. As free radicals are highly reactive and hence have short lifetime, spin traps will be applied to prolong the lifespan of the radicals and thereby enable the analysis by ESR. The transfer of radical to spin traps allows not only for analysis by ESR, but also for analysis by mass spectrometry (MS) as the trapped radical will decay, resulting in a covalently bound spin trap to the molecule in focus (lipid or protein). The additional mass at the position(s) where the radical(s) was initially formed will allow for identifying the most woundable part of the protein or lipid. Combining ESR with MS will provide a fundamental understanding of the mechanism by with the radical was formed and prediction of the consequences will be part of the study as well. 

The student will achieve insight into free radical chemistry and oxidative changes and will be part of the Dalsgaard group, focusing on alternative protein and natural colorant and the understanding of redox chemistry during processing. There will be weekly group meeting where the student is to present, hypothesis, experimental design, and discuss obtained results.