Current Projects
Ongoing climate change and the resulting extreme weather phenomena, such as heavy rainfall or droughts, require new strategies in food production to ensure the availability of high-quality cereal-based staple foods in Europe. One strategy is the European cultivation of new, unconventional grain cereals that are already successfully established in other continents due to their yield, robustness, and resistance to heat and drought, while emitting few greenhouse gases. Sorghum millet is a promising cereal for this purpose. However, the use of this plant is not culturally established in Europe and its usability for common European foods has hardly been researched so far.
In this context, the aim of the transnational and interdisciplinary research project is to develop a processing strategy for drought-resistant and regionally cultivable sorghum. After identifying suitable sorghum varieties, a milling process for dry fractionation will be developed and optimized. The fractions will then be technologically and nutritionally functionalized for use in high-value cereal-based food systems.
CORNET C-2023-03
Project duration: 2024-2025
Research Partner:
Secondary College for Food Technology (HTLLMT), Wels
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Department of Food Science and Technology (BOKU), Vienna
Yeast, derived from local by-products of the fermentation and brewing industries, shows promising potential as an alternative protein source. Integrating this protein into human nutrition could boost protein production in rural areas, thereby supporting the state strategy for a sustainable bioeconomy in Baden-Württemberg. Within the scope of the yPRO+ research project, the focus is on developing a process strategy for the functionalization of the previously unused yeast protein. This strategy aims to establish yeast protein as a functional food ingredient and integrate it into the value chain. These measures are intended not only to promote sustainable bioeconomy but also to strengthen the resilience of the regional supply chain in the food sector.
yPRO+
Project duration: 2023-2026
This project was supported by the Ministry of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection Baden-Württemberg (MLR).
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Fruit preparations (FP) are made from fruit in the form of fruit pieces, fruit pulp, and juice using different types of sugar, natural flavorings and flavoring extracts, coloring foods, edible acids and other ingredients if necessary. The even distribution of the fruit pieces in the FP represents a special requirement for these semi-finished goods and is guaranteed by hydrocolloids. However, as food additives, these must be declared, which runs counter to the clean labeling trend. The aim of the research project is therefore to develop an innovative approach to the microbial production of viscosity-increasing hydrocolloids in situ by means of fermentation and the integration of these fermentates into the FP production. Exopolysaccharides (EPS) are to be produced directly in fruit components of FP or in fruit-containing FP premixes by fermentation with lactic acid bacterial strains in order to thereby increase the viscosity and thus bring about structural stabilization. The rheological requirements for the fruit components and the processability of the FP are to be met through the formation of EPS. In addition, the overall sensoric properties of the FP should not be impaired or should be improved.
AiF 22473 N
Project duration: 2022 - 2025
Research partners:
University of Hohenheim, Department of Food Microbiology and Hygiene
University of Hohenheim, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry
Quality of gluten-free doughs and breads was already improved by additives, as for example the hydrocolloid HPMC. Though, gluten-free doughs and breads still show nutritive, textural and aromatic deficits compared to wheat-based products, which also impacts the consumer. The challenge is to mimic the characteristic properties of the gluten network.
Newest findings demonstrate that arabinoxylans (AX) can replace the structure giving gluten network, through linkage of ferulic acid residue, to a certain extent. However, carbohydrate-based networks are not able to reach the excellent properties of gluten. Hence, the idea and goal of the project is an enzymatic linkage of proteins and AX via ferulic acid residues and tyrosine. This protein-AX network should have similar properties as gluten and therefore improve gluten-free doughs to an unprecedented extent. The grains oat, maize and corn were identified as suitable raw material due to their high quality of AX and high amount of tyrosine among proteins. Another goal is the characterization of the new network and its influence on dough properties and baking performance. For the realization of the project, an interdisciplinary approach was chosen, comprising grain technology (grinding, fractionation), biotechnology (enzyme promoted linkage), physics (dough rheology), polymer chemistry and analytics
PROTAX
Project Duration 2022-2025
Research Partner:
Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety GmbH (AGES)
Institute for Food Technology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna (BOKU)
Gluten-free baked goods are becoming more popular and have long since outgrown their niche existence; Drivers of this development are at most the positive assessments of consumers with regard to the health-promoting and nutritional value of these products. In contrast to baked goods containing gluten, gluten-free baked goods, such as B. breads, starches or high-starch, highly refined flours from (pseudo) cereals are used. Structure-stabilizing proteins are missing in these flours, which in particular impairs the water-binding capacity and the gas-holding capacity of gluten-free doughs and, via the latter, the crumb texture of the bread. In order to improve the gas holding capacity of the dough, complex formulations are usually used to produce gluten-free baked goods. These are often synthetic hydrocolloids and emulsifiers, which, however, contradict the consumer trend towards clean labels (“without additives”). The aim of the research project is the use of plant-based surface-active and foam-stabilizing substances (OSS) to increase foam formation and foam stability in gluten-free dough. Known mechanisms of foam formation and stabilization are to be transferred to the complex medium of gluten-free doughs by vegetable OSS (saponins and proteins) and thus the gas retention stability up to thermal stabilization (baking) is to be increased in order to produce high-quality gluten-free baked goods, such as e.g. B. breads, with improved crumb texture and better volumes.
AiF 22564 N
Project duration: 2022 - 2025
Research partner:
Technical University of Munich, Chair of Brewing and Beverage Technology
Acrylamide is a process contaminant generated during heating of carbohydrate-rich, especially starch-based foods. The main formation pathway of acrylamide is described with the reaction of the amino acid asparagine and reducing sugars such as glucose. A low water content and a high temperature during production are beneficial for this reaction, which is particularly the case in the production of baked goods. Most notably, the formation of acrylamide is elevated in breads with special ingredients compared to standard baked goods. Preliminary studies have shown that these processed products clearly exceed the guideline values for acrylamide set in the EU. The aim of the research project is to develop a successful minimization strategy for acrylamide in baked goods with special plant-based ingredients, based on the knowledge of the diffusion and migration behavior, the formation kinetics of acrylamide and the influence of the targeted adjustment of the moisture content of the special ingredients.
AiF 22209 BG
Project duration: 2021 - 2024
Research Partner:
Institute for Food and Environmental Research e. V
Completed Projects
The climate and pollution crises, on the one hand, and resource depletion and scarcity on the other hand, call for new ways of designing food packaging in terms of materials and production. Reuse2Repack project, as a part of the EIT Food Solutions Program, focuses on finding solutions for food packaging using food waste materials. These solutions are driven by the incorporation of food waste streams in bio-based packaging and by the design of alternative strategies for reusing food packaging materials. Within the scope of this project, Master’s students are tasked with achieving a functional food packaging prototype produced from food waste. Addressing several development and production milestones, the project participants have the opportunity to develop full business models and financial plans. A final event is carried out, where the project participants have to pitch their product to a panel of judges for a final evaluation.
Project duration: 2022
Partners:
- EIT Food Education (EU)
- Aarhus University (Denmark)
- University of Turin (Italy)
- CSIC (Spain)
- Swiss Food Research (Switzerland)
- Puratos (Belgium)
Growing world population, restrictions on agricultural production due to climate change and geopolitical crises pose significant challenges to food production. This applies above all to the supply of proteins for food. The protein production from biomass (e.g. brewer's yeast or other fermentation residues) is significantly more sustainable than animal and partly vegetable proteins and represents an ideal example of bioeconomic use.
The aim of the project is to develop the potential of targeted modifications of protein functionalities from natural resources in order to enable their use in human nutrition.
Project duration: 2022-2023
Project was supported by the Ministry of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection Baden-Württemberg (MLR).
