Research

The Center's research focuses on fundamental investigations of structure-function relationships of carbohydrates and other biopolymers as related to practical uses in food and consumer-products. The Center evaluates a wide variety of polysaccharides (starches, gums/hydrocolloids, and carbohydrate-based dietary fiber) and oligosaccharides.

Structure-function relationships are determined from multiple levels of analyses, including fine structure determination, conformational analysis, supramolecular assembly, rheology and other mechanical measurements of carbohydrate materials, interfacial adsorption and stabilization, digestibility rates, impacts on gut microbial communities, and impacts on health markers of the small and large intestine. Scientific methodology is consistently revised to maintain relevance with the state-of-the-art in carbohydrate science and to maximize opportunity for discovery.

Technological issues and targets are defined in partnership with corporate sponsors.

Our research focus areas are:

Design of healthy processed foods (designed carbohydrate ingredients, sugar reduction/replacement, novel health-related ingredients)
Innovations in processed food quality (texture, quality, novel monitoring techniques)
Sustainable and clean-label foods (clean label, quality, by-product streams, biobased plastics, plant-based forward foods, edible coatings and packaging)
Carbohydrates and healthy outcomes (microbiome, gut health, brain function, weight control, metabolic health, sex differences)

The center's team includes permanent full-time faculty, associated faculty, research scientists, post-doctoral fellows, visiting scientists, graduate students, and support staff.

Our center provides special expertise in:

Carbohydrate structural chemistry
Texture and rheology of carbohydrate materials
Carbohydrate digestion and impacts on gut microbiome and gut health
Isolation and extraction approaches
Interaction of starch and other polysaccharides with sugars, phenolic compounds, and protein
Emulsifying and foaming properties
Microstructural characterization of grains, polysaccharide clusters, and granules
Extrusion processing
Chemical modification of starch and other polysaccharides
Molecular biology for exopolysaccharide production or carbohydrate modification
Molecular modeling
Collaborations provide access to other personnel, capabilities, and instrumentation.

A goal of the Center is to provide as many benefits as possible to member companies and project sponsors. The Center is pledged to create a "most favored" relationship with member companies. The Center recognizes a need to protect intellectual property arising from research.

Ownership of all intellectual property resulting from research done at Purdue University, whatever the means of support, resides with the Purdue Research Foundation, unless the idea or discovery clearly originated within the company sponsoring the research.

In cases where there is total support of a research project by a company, an agreement concerning patentable materials is executed between the company and the University.

At the time of disclosure of any discovery or developed technology for which there is not a superseding agreement as the result of total support of a project through a research grant or contract, sustaining members are notified and given equal opportunity to review that intellectual property for commercial interests and licensing.

Details of licensing agreements between the Purdue Research Foundation and a company or group of companies are established on a case-by-case basis.

Contractual research links Purdue University with industry and provides a means of technology transfer. The focus of the Center's research program is molecular origins of functionality, although research on practical effects of source-specific structure and product-relevant mixtures are relevant to faculty programs.

Projects are conducted under sponsored research agreements. Sponsored research involves a project with well-defined goals conducted under a negotiated agreement and gives the sponsor the right to an exclusive license. Research agreements and contracts are made between the Purdue Research Foundation - on behalf of the faculty member - and the sponsor; these are negotiable with respect to degree of sponsor involvement, patenting procedures, royalties on licenses, delay in publication, and schedule of payments. Blanket university agreements can be negotiated.

Faculty work closely with company personnel during the course of projects. All company information is kept confidential, unless permission is given to do otherwise.

Paradigm-shifting views of how dietary fibers target changes in the gut microbiome
Methods to reduce starch digestion rate for the ileal activation of the gut-brain axis
New xylitol synthesis process scaled to an industrial level
Resolution of atomic structures of polysaccharide chains, e.g., gellan gum
New approach to interpret Fourier-Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy spectra of food materials
Structural basis for slowly digestible starch to increase the amount in processed foods
Effects of acetylation, oxidation, and annealing on the structure and function of bean starch
Structural basis for the impact of monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polyols on sugar swelling and resulting paste viscoelasticity
Deliquescence phenomena in carbohydrate-based powders
Systematic studies on the alternative sugar/oligosaccharide effect on starch gelatinization
Fundamental studies of fibers and gums on expansion in extruded products
Mathematical models to describe the coalescence of dispersions and instability in foams
Dendritic starch-derived structures for controlled delivery of hydrophobic bioactive molecules
Polysaccharide associations impact the size development and stability of dispersed protein aggregates
Reduction in intestinal inflammation by anthocyanins within dietary fiber mixtures
Rheological methodology related to extruded meat analogues and doughs

Whistler Center Research