Research

In the course of the project, selected fermented vegetable foods (vegetables fermented with lactic acid) are to be microbiologically characterized. The samples are provided by the client including the relevant documentation. A number of microbiologically relevant parameters are then recorded using modern methods and important key microorganisms are specifically isolated and identified. Particular focus should be placed on the detection of yeasts. The aim of the project is to understand the micro-ecological conditions in the fermented products. Final measures to stabilize and optimize product quality can then be derived from this.

s part of a holistic strategy, the potential of climate-smart grain crops - specifically sorghum - is to be identified and subsequently exploited facing the challenge of a sustainable feeding of the growing world population. This is only possible with high-yield and weather-tolerant agricultural raw materials. The focus must be on crops that emit low levels of greenhouse gas while being resilient to heat and drought. Until now, sorghum has not been used as an ingredient in staple foods in Central European countries. However, sorghum shows a high field yield and is drought tolerant. Therefore, bundled research activities and cooperation with corporate partners are needed to establish the use of sorghum as a major ingredient in Western diet and to develop sensory accepted and high nutritional food products. Sorghum is already used as a staple food in African and Indian regions. However, the functionality and sensory attributes of wholegrain sorghum products do not meet the cultural European quality expectations. There is still limited understanding of the functional behaviour of different sorghum milling fractions in bakery and pasta products. It is crucial to investigate the impact of different milling fractions on technological functionality as well as on nutritional and sensory properties. Then we can adapt and control the milling process for producing high quality sorghum fractions. Furthermore, the grain and the milling fractions are functionalized by several approaches such as germination, enzymatic and hydrothermal approaches to optimize and increase the functionality in terms of digestibility and gas holding properties. Thus, sorghum-based gluten-free breads and new 3D printed texturates as well as sorghum-wheat-based breads, fine bakery products and pasta of higher nutritional value and sensory acceptability can be produced from climate-smart grains in Europe. The CLIC consortium consists of experts in the field of food technology, cereal process engineering with many years of expertise in the field of alternative cereal crops, i.e. University of Hohenheim, BOKU and HTLLMT Wels. Due to the similar effects of climate change on cereal cultivation, Germany and Austria are equally in search of solutions. Through a transnational project, the necessary knowledge can be multiplied, and the corresponding work packages are distributed according to the expertise of the research partners. The project will be coordinated by FEI (Germany) and ecoplus (Austria). The user committee consists of branches along the value chain: milling, additive suppliers, consultants, bakery and pasta production and related associations.

While dysphagia (oropharyngeal dysphagia, OD) is primarily studied from a medical point of view, many issues remain unclear in the interplay between food properties, culinary processes and oral processing. In particular, the interplay between physical variables such as oral surface adhesion ("stickiness") , internal structural cohesion ("binding strength"), fracture behavior, and oral motor behavior as a function of gender and age are poorly understood. As a result, many approaches to improving the quality of life of people suffering from OD through food texture modifications are often subjective and not based on scientific principles. This increases the risk of unsafe and inefficient food intake, leading to medical and economic consequences such as increased pneumonia rates, malnutrition, and prolonged hospital stays. In addition, this has a significant impact on the quality of life for affected patients. The main objective of the project is to identify essential physical aspects that control surface adhesion, structural cohesion and fracture behavior in food products. Based on these parameters, applicable guidelines for targeted product creation in consistency-modified food forms will be generated. These guidelines will be tested on healthy individuals based on model foods and kitchen-engineered prototypes in order to obtain systematic feedback for further investigations and applications in patients with dysphagia.