How we help the industry apply food and ingredient technologies
Our food and ingredient technology team helps companies to:
- develop new food and beverage products with desirable health and sensory attributes by
- improving the sensory properties and perception of food through control of flavour and taste release
- meeting national targets in reducing salt, sugar and fat in manufactured foods through design of food microstructure
- increasing protein, fibre, fruit and vegetable content in processed foods
- develop new ingredients for health and nutrition by
- enhancing the bioavailability of nutrients, bioactives and nutraceuticals
- designing microencapsulated ingredients to stabilise sensitive bioactives and nutraceuticals
- masking undesirable taste and odour from nutraceuticals and bioactive ingredients for increased consumer acceptance of fortified foods
- capitalise on inherent functionality and nutrients present in agri-food materials by
- adding value to food-waste streams, by-products from food processing and second grade produce
- applying traditional and emerging food processes to stabilise nutrients and high value components in food processing waste
- characterise and tailor food material properties by
- designing microstructures and functionality to improve stability and processability
- controlling the rate of digestion of target nutrients using a range of in-vitro models that simulate specific digestive functions
- enhancing the bioaccessibility and transport of nutrients in the body to improve nutrition delivery through ingredient design.
Food and ingredient technologies case study: development of microencapsulated omega-3 ingredients
Fish oil is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids but is prone to oxidation and development of off-odours and flavours. CSIRO’s scientists overcame these problems by developing a technology that encloses microscopic droplets of fish oil in a food grade material. MicroMAX® masks the fishy flavour and extends the shelf life of omega-3 oils. The technology has unmatched encapsulation efficiency, oil loading capacity and stability.
Fifteen years ago, Clover Corporation, then a small nutrition technology ingredient company based in Melbourne’s West, licensed the technology from CSIRO and since then have been manufacturing omega-3 powdered ingredients using CSIRO’s MicroMAX® technology for local and international food and infant formula companies.
Australian supermarket shelves are now stocked with a range of healthy omega-3 enriched food choices created using this unique encapsulation system.
Our key resources in food and ingredient technologies available to industry
Key CSIRO infrastructure and expertise available for industry include:
- food scientists, technologists, nutritionists, chemists, microbiologists and analysts with track records in solving food and ingredient innovation challenges
- food and process engineers with expertise in designing new processes and applying traditional and innovative unit processes
- internationally recognised experts in microencapsulation
- a comprehensive range of analytical equipment for physical characterisation and chemical analysis of raw materials, ingredients and final food products, including in-vitro analysis
- fully equipped product development test kitchens and lab-scale processing equipment
- $50m research and development pilot plant for processing a wide range of products including dairy, meat, grains, horticulture and packaged foods and beverages.