Mechanistic understanding of the formation of networks in food gels
| Topic | 56 |
| Main supervisor | Christopher Garvey (christopher.garvey@tum.de) |
| MLZ institution | TUM |
| Local supervisor 1 |
Susana Teixeira
|
| Institution |
NIST Center for Neutron Research
|
| Local supervisor 2 | Federico Casanova |
| Institution |
Magritek
|
| Local supervisor 3 | – |
| Institution | – |
| Local supervisor 4 | – |
| Institution | – |
| Title |
Mechanistic understanding of the formation of networks in food gels
|
| Description |
Food gels consist of networks of aggregated molecules, most commonly proteins, which interrupt the ability of the hydrated structure to flow. While the organization of this network has most commonly been probed with rheological techniques we have been examining the use of ultra-small angle neutron scattering and dark field neutron imaging to probe the network structure directly in a non-perturbative fashion. In this project we will examine the use of micro-organisms to form food gels with small angle neutron scattering particularly in the context of dairy gels. Further work may include fermentation approaches to the production of vegetable protein based gels as meat substitutes. Direct knowledge around the structure of network gleaned from neutron scattering can enable new perspectives on the food processing but also the also chemical reactions is such networks, for example digestion.
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