Driven by the need for a new, global food system with more plant-based foods and sustainable packaging alternatives, food production and processing companies team up with MAX IV to access cutting-edge tools and techniques for advanced food science R&D projects.
As complex materials, both food and packaging can greatly benefit from synchrotron light characterisation methods covering a range of length and time scales, making it possible to get a microscale view of food formulations and processing components, and monitor spatial distribution of different components both in situ and in operando.
Increased understanding of food structures, textures, and interactions, as well as processing phenomena impact the food system ranging from production to health, safety and environment. It paves the way for solving one of the big challenges of our time: finding food alternatives that have the same high functionality and nutritional value as the foods dominating today’s market.
Research topics include developing new, sustainable packaging materials and biocomposites from substances such as starch, lignocellosic materials, and microalgae. Such innovations play a crucial part in waste reduction – one of the key drivers for global supply chains.
MAX IV has initiated the international network Northern Lights on Food that gathers universities, industry, and academia to advance food research and educate the next generation of food scientists.
Examples of research topics at MAX IV
- Efficient protein and lipid extraction and removal of contaminants in fishing and aquaculture industry
- Imaging of seed structure and composition to increase extraction of functional components in proteins, starch, and lipids
- 3D spatial distribution of storage molecules
- Water effects on food matrix and properties, drying, baking, and cooking
- Colloidal aspects on food
- Interface phenomena on processing surfaces
- Structure within food systems
Popular techniques and beamlines
- Small- and wide-angle scattering at ForMAX,and CoSAXS
- Tomographic imaging at ForMAX, DanMAX, and NanoMAX
- X-ray powder diffraction at DanMAX
- X-ray fluorescence imaging in 2D and X-ray phase and absorption contrast imaging at NanoMAX
- Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy, X-ray fluorescence and ptychography at SoftiMAX
Discuss your research and innovation needs with us! Contact us at the MAX IV Industrial Relations Office and we will help you turn your research idea into an experiment and find the suitable methods and techniques for you.