Product Innovation

Global “clean label” estimated food sale at $180 billion in 2020, and more than 80% of consumers preferring simple and easy-to-recognize ingredient lists (Shelke 2020).  Dairy ingredients are well positioned to meet the demand for ‘clean label’ and high protein’ foods through MPCs (MPC is a natural emulsifier that could potentially increase protein content, convey a premium image, and improve texture).

Oil-in-water (o/w) Pickering emulsions made with whey protein aggregates offer great potential as a delivery vehicle for lipophilic nutrients such as carotenoids or drug molecules. In this study, researchers will invent whey protein-based Pickering emulsifier ingredients. These ingredients may exhibit functionalities in terms of improving emulsion physical stability and improving bioavailability of poorly soluble nutrients.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and to optimize scalable enzyme-driven bio-processing procedures for manufacturing LBA. To characterize and study the impact of key manufacturing parameters (e.g., pH, ionic strength of the substrates). To create a conjugated LBA-whey protein delivery system for nutrients.