Award details

Probing Food Materials: Imaging and Force Spectroscopy.

Reference	BB/E012531/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Victor Morris
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Mr Allan Gunning, Dr Mary Parker
Institution	Quadram Institute Bioscience
Department	IMG Partnership
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	143,347
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	21/03/2007
End date	20/03/2008
Duration	12 months

Abstract

This proposal requests support for a new commercial scanning probe microscope. The use of scanning probe microscopy in food science has been pioneered at IFR over the last 18 years. The techniques have been successfully used to produce solutions to previously intractable problems in food science. This has resulted from the unique ability of these microscopes to deliver structural information on complex food systems which are heterogeneous at the molecular level. The instruments at IFR are now dated, becoming obsolete and no longer suitable for routine use. We request funding to update our research facilities with a modern state-of-the-art instrument that will allow IFR to retain a leading international presence in the application of these methods in food science and provide a service facility for plant and food materials. The age of the current instruments places limits on their resolution particularly in the study of complex plant materials and plant and animal tissue (rough samples). A new instrument would allow us to retain our status of world class research in imaging food and plant materials and also to investigate the potential of force spectroscopy in food science. Specifically the apparatus would be used to investigate starch structures that control starch digestion, structural mechanisms regulating lipase activity in fat digestion, and to test proposed models for the anti-cancer activity of pectin. The apparatus would allow us to develop novel force spectroscopy studies on colloidal interactions between deformable particles and the manipulation of these interactions to control texture in food products. It would allow new studies on the molecular origins of bacterial adhesion. Both imaging and force studies will be used to probe self assembled molecular structures as models of biological systems and as sources of new coatings, barriers and release devices.

Summary

Probe microscopy is a novel form of microscopy that has been developed over the last 20 years. Images are obtained by feeling the surface profile of samples deposited onto suitable substrates. Images are generated in much the same way as a blind person builds a picture through feeling materials and objects. As well as revealing the surface profile of the object the microscope, like a blind person, can augment the image through sensing other features of the object, such as charge, hardness or stickiness. At IFR we have pioneered the use of this type of microscopy in food science. The microscopes can image food structures at sub-molecular resolution. An advantage of this type of microscopy is the ability to image samples under liquid or gaseous environments with minimal sample preparation. This has allowed the methods to be used to solve previously intractable problems in food science. By studying how food molecules (fats, carbohydrates and proteins) interact, and the types of structures they form in foods, it has been possible to understand and enhance the quality of food products. The instruments at IFR are now dated, becoming obsolete and no longer suitable for routine use. We are requesting funding to update our research facilities with a modern state-of-the-art instrument that will allow IFR to extend the application of these methods in food science, provide an imaging service facility, and to develop new applications in food science, only achievable through the use of modern instruments.

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Research Equipment Initiative 2006 (RE6) [2006]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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