Agri-Food Processing & Engineering

Research Directions:

  • Low-moisture food safety engineering
  • Conventional antimicrobial interventions and their synergy with cold plasma (e.g., peracetic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, hydrogen peroxide, dry heat, quats)
  • Development of novel extraction, homogenization, drying processes and conventional agri-food process intensification (e.g., peas, canola, lentil, faba bean, etc.) 
  • Plant protein (e.g., peas, canola, fava bean, lentil) and polysaccharide particle preparation (gels, powders, emulsions) and functionality improvement by novel technologies (e.g., atmospheric cold plasma, UV light, and 3D printing)
  • Cold plasma interaction with plant proteins and polysaccharides to improve gelation and other functional properties (e.g., pea protein, fava bean, lupin, canola protein, hemp protein, pectin, betaglucan etc.)
  • Novel 3D food ink development by value addition and utilization of agricultural products

Students and Postdocs:

Yulia Barsukova, Sreelakshmi Menon, Pauline Chan, Muhammad Faisal Arif

Collaborator:

Dr. Lingyun Chen and Dr. John Wolodko

Publications:

  1. *Faisal, M., Feizollahi, Zhang, S., Chen, L., **Roopesh, M. S. Effects of atmospheric cold plasma treatment on canola protein structural and functional properties. (Internal review).
  2. *Zhang, S., Huang, W., **Roopesh, M. S., **Chen, L. Pre-treatment by combining atmospheric cold plasma and pH-shifting to prepare pea protein concentrate powders with improved gelling properties. Food Research International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111028
  3. *Zhang, S., Huang, W., Feizollahi, E., **Roopesh, M. S., **Chen, L.  Improvement of pea protein gelation at reduced temperature by atmospheric cold plasma and the gelling mechanism study. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2020.102567
  4. *Varghese, C., Wolodko, J., Chen, L., Doschak., Srivastav, P. P., **Roopesh, M. S. Influence of selected product and process parameters on microstructure, rheological and textural properties of 3D printed cookies. Foods. 9(7), 907. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9070907. Special issue “3D Food Printing: Future Outlook and Application in Food Sector”.