Milena Corredig
Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Denmark
Editorial board member of the Journal of Dairy Research
Section Editor of the Journal of Dairy Science
Section editor for Food Hydrocolloids
Section editor for Journal of Dairy Science
Full Bio
Milena Corredig has been a Full Professor in Food design and technology since 2006, at University of Guelph and since 2019 at Aarhus University, in the FOOD department. She is currently also CiFOOD Center Leader.
Prof. Corredig completed her Bachelor studies at the University of Milano, Italy, and her Master and PhD in Food Science from the University of Guelph, Canada. From 1998 to 2003 she was a researcher, and lecturer at the University of Georgia, in Athens, Georgia, USA. In 2003 she was offered a position as Research Chair in Dairy Technology at the University of Guelph. From 2013 to 2018 she was head of R&D for Gay Lea Foods, a dairy Company owned by 1400 Farmers, in Toronto, Canada, responding to the CEO.
To date, Prof. Corredig has published more than 250 peer reviewed publications, and gave as many public and conference presentations. She also held many professional positions. Within the University domain, she has been Department director of graduate studies, and acting Department Chair. She is also member of the editorial board for Food Hydrocolloids, the Journal of Dairy Research and Journal of Food Texture.
Her research priorities are food design and processing, connecting the domains of food biochemistry, food processing and material science.
When designing foods, it is paramount to understand the molecular and supramolecular properties of the ingredients, and how they interact with the other components of the matrix during processing, supply chain and consumption. By knowing such details it is possible to design more functional foods, healthier foods and high quality products, both fresh and preserved products. This will also be vital to improve or create new functional ingredients from raw materials, taking into consideration also the use of byproducts in a new, circular food economy. A better understanding of the interactions between raw materials, ingredients, alternative processing approaches, storage and distribution, will provide new tools to create more sustainable food products in the future.https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/milena-corredig(10730a55-54f1-4c17-9f74-06af10376787).html
Lecture Summary
Designing better plant protein foods through colloidal science
To be able to design foods with plant-based ingredients one needs to have an in depth understanding of theirstructure and function relationship. But this is easier said than done. The complexity of the matrices requires relevant processing model systems and sample environments. Processing has to be re-designed as when using plant-derived proteins in formulations, often these ingredients do not measure up to current paradigms. Although the structure of the main legumins and albumins present in legumes and oilseed are well known, research is still needed to fully understand their properties during processing, and new experimental designs are needed to study their functionality, which take into consideration their low solubility, their colloidal properties and differences in dispersibility, and their complex composition.
Legumins and albumins are, in their native structure, in an insoluble form in the protein body. They can then
be concentrated using milling and classification, or by wet extraction, to produce products of increasing purity. The processing history does not only affect the structure and colloidal properties of the protein but also its purity. Albeit it may be easier to predict their processing properties by using highly refined ingredients, one has to question the need of such refinement, based on a balanced evaluation of nutritional, functional and sustainability aspects. Compositional and molecular structure data needs to be integrated with spectral and microstructural data, as structural heterogeneities play a role in the functionality. Furthermore, advanced physical techniques such as light, X ray and neutrons can provide ensemble information at multiple scale, to complement rheological and microstructural data, the latter focusing on the meso-scale. This presentation will demonstrate the importance and the challenges of a soft matter science approach, and the need to use complementary techniques, simulations and models, hand-in-hand with experimental processing studies to be able to learn how to best design the foods of the future.
Acknowledgements: Funding for this program are provided by the Villum Foundation (award number 37759).