In recent years, interest in plant-protein, especially as a sustainable alternative to animal protein has and is still growing tremendously. While their structure and composition are being extensively studied, gaps remain in understanding plant-based material properties during processing. Consequently, integrating such materials into food matrices poses challenges. For food scientists and engineers to design sustainable food of the future with appealing sensory features, addressing those gaps is crucial.
Legumes play a key role in the future of plant-based diet. This project will focus on Fava beans – a legume that can be cultivated in Denmark - more specifically on their coarse fraction (current byproduct in production of protein concentrate).
You will investigate relevant industrial problems related to how faba bean starch interact with other ingredients during processing. You will contribute to a better understanding of how protein-starch assemblies behave at various length scales, from micro to macro, how their interactions lead to the formation of structures in food and how processing parameters impact them.
During this project, you will produce your own samples using a twin-screw extruder and characterize them from both a structural (CLSM, NMR…) and rheological (Texture analyzer…) perspectives.
The project is aligned to UN's SGD:
