Pickering emulsions for food applications

Pickering emulsions for food applications

Enormous food waste worldwide has huge environmental and cost efficiency impact. Chemical deterioration caused by e.g. oxidation of lipids, vitamins and other food constituents are causes of waste. Many foods are emulsions stabilized by surfactants. Conventional surfactants have dominated emulsion science due to their ease of use, relatively low cost and control. However, their future industrial use is under threat, because of formulation foaming problems and the need to reduce volatile organic compounds and carbon footprints. The use of so-called Pickering particles for production of physically and oxidatively stable emulsions may be a solution to these problems. The aim of the Pickering Emulsions for Food Applications - PICKFOOD project is therefore to provide a framework and novel methodologies to study and develop Pickering emulsions and to evaluate their applications in safe, healthy and functional foods in collaboration with the food industry. Achieving this goal involves a combination of soft matter physics and food colloid science deepening our physical understanding of emulsion stability and processing, preparation of food-grade Pickering particles as well as characterizing them by highly advanced methods not traditionally used in food science. Moreover, physics and food science will join forces in electrohydrodynamic processing to avoid the deterioration of thermo-sensitive compounds during encapsulation since the solvents are evaporated at low temperature. PICKFOOD assembles a multisectorial team of scientists to train young researchers, and provide them with the combination of skills from soft matter physics and food colloid science. We want to specifically provide them with technological and methodological competences to advance the field of Pickering emulsions for food production and associated characterization methods and help them to utilize the experience from PICKFOOD in their individual careers.