STAFF PROFILE
Professor Benu Adhikari
Research interests
Associate Professor Benu Adhikari’s research interests cover various aspects of food engineering and processing.
Food engineering: Research in this theme cover physical and engineering properties of foods and how these properties change with industrially prevailing processing conditions. For example, how the rheological, thermal and mass transfer characteristics change due to temperature, pressure and humidity and mechanical stresses.
Food emulsions: This theme covers simple o/w, w/o emulsions and also complex emulsions such as o/w/o and w/o/w. The interfacial behaviour of many surface active agents such as proteins, low molecular weight surfactants at oil-water and water-air interface are investigated to considerable detail. The stability of emulsions of both micro and nano emulsions are also investigated.
Micro/nano encapsulation: This theme includes encapsulation of oxygen and heat sensitive food ingredients and microbes especially in protein, carbohydrate and protein- carbohydrate complexes. Current research projects include microencapsulation of chia seed oil and flaxseed oil in chia seed protein-chia seed gum complex coacervates and flaxseed protein-flaxseed gum complex coacervates, respectively.
Biodegradable packaging: This theme covers development of novel biodegradable packaging from starch, cellulose and derivatives and starch-polyurethene composites. The major thrust of research is creating hydrophobicity in these packaging materials.
Food powders/food drying: This theme covers particle formation process of many food components including proteins, gums and sugars. Current research project include production of lactoferrin and other protein powders using spray drying. Studies on production and characterisation of nanoparticles/powders also fall under this theme.
Structure-function in foods (food proteins and carbohydrates): This theme includes investigations of structure-function-process interrelationships of major food compounds such as proteins, gums, gels, emulsions. Texture analysis and rheological studies fall under this theme."
Editorial role
Assistant Editor – Drying Technology: An International Journal ( Taylor and Francis)
Honorary appointments
- Visiting Professor: Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
- Adjunct Professor: Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
- Ghasemlou, M.,Daver, F.,Ivanova, E.,Adhikari, B. (2020). Synthesis of green hybrid materials using starch and non-isocyanate polyurethanes In: Carbohydrate Polymers, 229, 1 - 13
- Tran, T.,Miranda, A.,Gupta, A.,Puri, M.,Ball, A.,Adhikari, B.,Mouradov, A. (2020). The Nutritional and Pharmacological Potential of New Australian Thraustochytrids Isolated from Mangrove Sediments In: Marine Drugs, 18, 1 - 17
- Tai, N.,Adhikari, R.,Shanks, R.,Adhikari, B. (2019). Aerobic biodegradation of starch�polyurethane flexible films under soil burial condition: Changes in physical structure and chemical composition In: International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 145, 1 - 11
- Luo, K.,Liu, S.,Miao, S.,Adhikari, B.,Wang, X.,Chen, J. (2019). Effects of transglutaminase pre-crosslinking on salt-induced gelation of soy protein isolate emulsion In: Journal of Food Engineering, 263, 280 - 287
- Xue, F.,Gu, Y.,Wang, Y.,Li, C.,Adhikari, B. (2019). Encapsulation of essential oil in emulsion based edible films prepared by soy protein isolate-gum acacia conjugates In: Food Hydrocolloids, 96, 178 - 189
- Ghasemlou, M.,Daver, F.,Ivanova, E.,Adhikari, B. (2019). Polyurethanes from seed oil-based polyols: A review of synthesis, mechanical and thermal properties In: Industrial Crops and Products, 142, 1 - 17
- Dhakal, S.,Kushairi, N.,Phan, C.,Adhikari, B.,Sabaratnam, V.,Macreadie, I. (2019). Dietary polyphenols: A multifactorial strategy to target alzheimer�s disease In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20, 1 - 2
- Wang, B.,Adhikari, B.,Barrow, C. (2019). Highly stable spray dried tuna oil powders encapsulated in double shells of whey protein isolate-agar gum and gellan gum complex coacervates In: Powder Technology, 358, 79 - 86
- Wang, B.,Adhikari, B.,Mathesh, M.,Yang, W.,Barrow, C. (2019). Anchovy oil microcapsule powders prepared using two-step complex coacervation between gelatin and sodium hexametaphosphate followed by spray drying In: Powder Technology, 358, 68 - 78
- Xu, J.,Zhang, M.,Cao, P.,Adhikari, B.,Yang, C. (2019). Microorganisms control and quality improvement of stewed pork with carrots using ZnO nanoparticels combined with radio frequency pasteurization In: Food Bioscience, 32, 1 - 7
10 PhD Completions10 PhD Current Supervisions and 3 Masters by Research Current Supervisions
- Development of a co-microencapsulation system for probiotics to enhance its viability during the shelf life and in-vitro digestion. Funded by: NU-MEGA Ingredients Pty Ltd - competitive from (2019 to 2020)
- Development of Shelf-Stable Almond Powder. Funded by: Select Harvests Food and Products Limited from (2018 to 2019)
- Novel enzymatic processing methods and stabilization technologies for omega-3 oils� (Administered by Deakin University). Funded by: ARC Linkage Projects via Other University Grant 2014 from (2015 to 2018)