Projects
Targeted processing of lemon peels to unlock the endogenous texturizing properties of its cell wall fibers KU Leuven
In the last decades, the increase of consumer interest in health and environmental issues has boosted the demand for overall natural sustainable food products and ingredients with health-related properties. Consequently, clean label products are gaining increasing market value, including products that are produced with more organic and natural formulations under sustainable conditions. In this context, the integrated use of fruit and ...
Exploration and exploitation of the gut microbiota of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) KU Leuven
During the last decade, there is a revived interest in the use of insects in food and feed applications because of its potential as a sustainable protein source. One of the most widely reared edible insects is the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens, BSF). The voracious larvae of the black soldier fly (BSFL) can convert low-value organic substrates into their high-value larval biomass, thereby making BSFL highly suitable as an feed ...
Understanding the functional properties of pectin-depleted citrus fiber as texturizing ingredient KU Leuven
The high production of citrus fruits worldwide, with large proportion of the harvested fruits going into the processing industry, creates a high volume of by-product which may become a burden for food companies and for the environment. On the other hand, citrus by-product is rich in cell wall material (CWM), also more commonly known as dietary fiber, which has been widely studied for its excellent techno-functionality and health-related ...
(Bio)chemical insights into the hard-to-cook development of Red haricot beans upon postharvest ageing: Integrating a texture-based bean classification and in situ analytics KU Leuven
Nowadays, the benefits of legume-based foods in the human diet in both developed and developing countries have been recognized. Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are the most consumed legume crop worldwide, with rather cheap raw materials of high nutritional value. However, the full benefit of common beans can be greatly hampered by a textural defect, the hard-to-cook (HTC) defect, which results in poor cooking quality of the ...
An integrated study towards understanding the functionalization, texturizing potential and storage stability of cell wall material KU Leuven
Cell walls of fruits and vegetables contain valuable polysaccharides that can be used as texturizers in the food industry. Recent work at our research group showed a novel approach for creating cell wall fractions with strong thickening properties by selectively removing specific biopolymers in combination with mechanical processing. Building further upon these highly promising results, next steps will be taken, by introducing advanced ...