Exploring food powder surface under controlled environment – ExPowSE

The current inability of most consumers to achieve the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables triggers food research toward the generation of improved fruit- and vegetable-based products and ingredients. Many types of fruit and vegetables are processed to increase their shelf-life (including drying and powdering), year-round availability, or to increase their value, which integrates structure-enabling and preservation techniques. It is now generally accepted that particle surface composition has a strong impact on the powder functional properties, such as reconstitution and flowability, as it constitutes the part of the powder particle that directly interacts with the environment. Consequently, monitoring only the bulk properties of a food powder during the production process is not enough to ensure good quality products.
The ExPowSE project aims at understanding the process–structure–function relations to tailor the functional properties of fruits and vegetables powders. To this end, a multiscale approach will be employed to investigate powder functional properties and particle surface properties (topography and roughness, adhesion and nanomechanics) by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Even if process parameters define powder surface structure and functional properties, they can be impacted by environmental conditions (temperature, relative humidity) and the present project intends to reproduce them when performing AFM measurements with the aim to decipher mechanisms leading to powder surface modifications. The ultimate goal of the ExPowSE project is to ensure excellent product stability and quality during the entire shelf life.