High Sensitivity Differential Scanning Calorimeter for Food Science and Biotechnology

The study of protein stability and denaturation is becoming increasingly important in food science, biotechnology and biochemical research. Therefore, the Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology, and Food Science (IKBM) at the University of Life science (U MB) applies for funding for a high sensitivity differential scanning calorimeter (HSDSC). The applying departments and research institute have several (large) ongoing projects that will strongly benefit from the availability of competence of (the project leader and co applicants) and equipment (the requested HSDSC) for analyzing, especially, protein stability. Thus, the new HSDSC will contribute to progress in a series of projects as well as integrating expertise at the department. The sensitivity of rec ent instruments is greatly increased (1000 fold) compared to older instruments. The new instrument will be used in the area of food science in order to study the stability and structure changes as they relate to processing technologies as well as to the effect of additives and the presence of other macromolecules. The technique will also be used to assay the stability of created mutant enzymes and therefore their suitability for technical applications, Also the equipment will be used to screen for effici ent enzyme inhibitors. It may also be used to study the effect peptides have on model biological membranes as a measure of antitumor activity and antimicrobial activity. The instrument will also be valuable to IHA in their studies of ingredients' and raw materials' behaviour in feed. Also MATFORSK has expressed interest in using the instrument for studies of different starch fractions from grain and how these behave differently during heating.