Studies on the influence of novel triglyceride chemistry on fat crystallization

The project objective is to gain a better understanding of the impact of triglyceride chemistry on edible fat nucleation and growth at high pressure and in the presence of an ultrasound field. Whilst the phase behaviour of edible oils has been relatively well studied at ambient pressures, there are only a handful of studies of the fundamental crystal nucleation and growth behaviour of oils and fats at high pressures. Their high pressure phase behaviour is important to a number of industries. For example the use of high pressure common rails in diesel engines, together with the introduction of vegetable oil derivatives into diesel fuel in the form of biofuels has created a number of problems for core manufacturers due to the lack of understanding of the high pressure crystallization behaviour of biofuel/diesel mixtures. The increasing use of high pressure processing in the food industry presents similar problems to manufacturers who wish to process fat containing foods. A good understanding of the fundamental science of crystal nucleation and growth is central to the development of many food manufacturing processes with potentially high impact on population diet and health. Studies of this subject between ambient and elevated pressure will contribute generally to improved engineering of food processes involving crystallization. It is well known also that ultrasound has significant impact upon crystallization and crystal nucleation, however, the mechanisms involved are not so well understood and this project will examine their impact from the theoretical and experimental point of view. Specifically, the crystallization of well-studied edible oil systems such as cocoa butter in the presence and absence of an ultrasound field will be studied at elevated pressures using equipment available at Leeds, SAXS/WAXS, DSC and Ultrasound Spectroscopy. If the preliminary data at Leeds justifies it, a case may also be made for beam time at the Diamond Synchrotron and other intense X-ray facilities. The student will gain real-world industrial research experience from the collaboration between Leeds and Nestle as part of a wider effort to enlarge the range of fats and vegetable oils available to chocolate and confectionery manufacture, hence improving diet and health consumers.