In 1999, Wolfgang Pauli wrote in his work, Growth, dissolution and pattern formation in geosystems: “God made the bulk; surfaces were invented by the devil”. Foods are multiphase systems, and the properties of the bulk are affected by which molecules and structures that are present at the interface.
In this project, you will be studying the molecular and supramolecular details leading to the formation and stability of emulsions and foams. This will include molecular characterization of proteins and other surface active molecules and their interactions with other ingredients present in the continuous phase. Depending on your interest, the project can be designed to look at the biophysical mechanisms underlying adsorption of molecules at interface or to look at how to best formulate the creation of delivery systems such as solid lipid nanoparticles, single or multiple emulsions. If your interest is in ingredients or process development, this project will look at the effect of processing on the physical and chemical properties of the emulsions obtained (i.e. heating treatments, shear and pressure).
Depending on your interest, you will be using advanced analytical techniques (chromatography, GC and HPLC-MS) or physical techniques (light scattering, drop tensiometry). Microstructure, rheology may also be used in this work. If interested in process design, you will be using pilot scale prototyping equipment such as extrusion, high pressure homogenization and UHT-DSI.
