Understanding the mechanisms of pulse microstructural transformation under thermal treatments

对富含蛋白质的植物性食品的需求不断增加，需要创新的加工和先进的质量控制方法，以改善新型食品的营养、功能和感官质量。豆类以其特殊的营养价值而闻名，是富含蛋白质的食物/配料的理想来源。尽管以前获得了关于豆类加工的知识，但关于热预处理过程如何影响单个豆类种子的质量以及如何利用这些知识为消费者配制新的高质量食品(例如挤压小吃、面包、意大利面、肉类替代品等)，仍有大量信息需要获得。在脉冲加工过程中采用的热处理对其物理、化学、机械和功能性能有重要影响。在理解种子中这种复杂的化学结构转变的机制方面，缺乏定量信息和知识差距。因此，有必要从根本上了解结构性变化是如何发生的，更重要的是，需要了解如何控制、操纵和优化这些变化。我假设，由于热处理产生的微裂纹，种子中的微观结构变化和孔隙率的发展是可调节的，可能有利于各种加工应用(即，研磨、储存)。我的研究计划的长期目标是通过了解食品加工引起食品微观结构变化的机制，从而提高食品质量的实时质量控制。我的计划将采用多学科方法，应用食品工程、化学计量学和多尺度建模方法，以在未来五年实现以下短期目标：i)使用先进的三维定量建模技术，研究在两种热处理(红外和过热蒸汽)下脉冲微结构变化的机制；ii)解决种子形态和质地参数之间的关系，这可以根据特定的食品应用而量身定做；以及iii)开发一种非破坏性的化学图谱技术，用于基于脉冲的即食食品的实时质量控制。拟议的研究将提供描述食品微孔率、水分和蛋白质图谱技术发展的数学模型。这将使加拿大的脉冲二次加工部门受益，并将充分释放脉冲利用的潜力。这一假设驱动的研究计划将促进1名博士、2名硕士和5名本科生的培养。HQP将接受一个包容性的、多学科的培训计划，这将促进他们未来在学术界和农业食品行业的职业发展。

Increasing demand for plant-based food that is rich in protein has created a need for innovative processing and advanced quality control methods that can improve the nutritional, functional, and sensory quality of novel foods. Pulses are known for their exceptional nutritional benefits and an ideal source for protein-rich food/ingredient. Despite previous knowledge gained about the processing of pulses, there is still a significant amount of information to be gained on how thermal pre-treatment processes affect the quality of individual pulse seeds and how this knowledge can be used to formulate new high-quality food products for the consumer (e.g., extruded snacks, bread, pasta, meat alternatives, etc.). Thermal pre-treatments applied during pulse processing significantly affects their physical, chemical, mechanical, and functional properties. There is a lack of quantitative information and a knowledge gap in understanding the mechanisms of such complex chemico-structural transformations in seeds. Therefore, there is a need for a fundamental understanding of how structural changes occur, and more importantly, how these changes can be controlled, manipulated, and optimized. I hypothesize that microstructural changes and the development of porosity in seeds due to micro-cracks made through heat pre-treatments are tunable and could be beneficial for various processing applications (i.e., milling, storage). The long-term objective of my research program is to be able to enhance the real-time quality control through understanding the mechanisms by which food processing induces microstructural changes in foods and thereby food quality. My program will adopt a multidisciplinary approach of applying food engineering, chemometrics, and multiscale modeling methodologies to achieve the following short-term objectives over the next five years: i) Investigate the mechanisms of microstructural transformations in pulses under two thermal treatments (infrared and superheated steam) using advanced three-dimensional quantitative modeling, ii) Resolve the relationship between seed morphological and textural parameters, which could be tailored to specific food application, and iii) Develop a non-destructive chemical mapping technique for real-time quality control of pulse-based ready-to-eat foods. The proposed studies will provide mathematical models describing the development of food micro-porosity, moisture and protein mapping techniques. This will benefit the Canadian pulse secondary processing sector and will unlock the full potential for pulse utilization. This hypothesis-driven research program will promote the training of 1 PhD, 2 MSc and 5 undergraduate students. The HQP will be exposed to an inclusive, multidisciplinary training program that will enhance their future career development in both academia and agri-food industry.