Tribological and rheological properties promoted by the interaction between proteins and DHT-modified starch in 3D printed gels designed for people with dysphagia

• Grant number: 23/01677-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: August 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Technology
• Principal Investigator: Wanessa Melchert Mattos
• Grantee: Jaqueline Souza Guedes
• Supervisor: Osvaldo Hector Campanella
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Ohio State University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/06398-2 - Developing ingredients for 3D printing: improving the performance of starch and producing food products, BP.DR

Abstract

3D printing is an emerging technology in food production, showing increasing interest and rapid development. In addition to new formats, this technology can be applied to create foods for special needs, such as dysphagia. In fact, we have already studied the modification of starch by the Dry Heating Treatment (DHT) as a strategy to develop ingredients to tailor 3D printing applications. However, the interaction of the modified starches with other food compounds, still needs to be understood. This project will be developed with Prof. Osvaldo Campanella, an internationally recognized researcher in the fields of food rheology and food hydrocolloids, to better understand the interaction of modified starch with proteins in the context of 3D printing of foods for dysphagia. Food analogues will be produced using starches modified by DHT (a simple and efficient physical approach, that does not generate residues, and so matching the food requirements) and vegetable proteins, as well as fruit juices. The obtained gels will be studied through their rheological properties focusing on understand their gelation and 3D printing. Moreover, they will be evaluated through their tribological properties focusing on understand their interaction with the human body during chewing and swallowing. By combining both approaches, this project will expand the description of developing ingredients for 3D printing of foods for special needs, namely, dysphagic diets. (AU)