MPhil in Functional Biopolymers for Food and Health

University of Leeds

Our research investigates the entire value-added chain for functional biopolymers (polysaccharides, proteins and polynucleotides), from their extraction, purification, chemical and enzymatic modification, and full structural characterization, to the development of novel structures in foods, cosmetics, as well as advanced biomaterials for therapeutics and biosensing devices. Many of these biopolymers occur in food processing waste streams, hence, we are highly interested in collaborating closely with the food and biotech industry. These materials play many roles in foods, and the clarification of the relationship between their structural aspects and their biological functions, is one of the major drivers of our research.We are investigating how biopolymers can be used as building blocks of high-value bioinspired ''soft'' materials that harness their self-assembling capacity to engineer emulsified oil droplets, multilayer systems, hydrogel networks, nano and micro fibres. These structures can shuttle and deliver nutrients, bioactive compounds and probiotics in the gut their properties can also be tweaked to prevent the digestibility of fat or to replace saliva in older people. Biopolymers also comprise dietary fibre and underpin its prominent role in health. They mediate mouthfeel, lubrication, intestinal motility, bile salts recycling, and serve as fermentable substrates for the microbiota (i.e. as prebiotics), among other functions that are yet to be fully understood. Our aim is to create a blueprint to conceive and design novel functional foods.