Microfluidic Tools to Monitor Dynamic Processes Occurring during Emulsion and Foam Formation

Humanity faces the huge challenge to supply a growing world population with sufficient and healthy food. To make this a reality we need to rethink how we produce food at large scale. This implies rethinking production ‘on the land/in the greenhouse’, fractionating raw materials, understanding their functionality during processes used in food production, as well as under digestive conditions to make the connection to health effects that can be created by smart food design.<br/>A big challenge that needs to be addressed to make smarter food design a reality is the investigation of processes that take place at micrometre scale, and even smaller scales, and often within very short times. These dynamic processes underly the food structure that we get, but the dynamics thereof are very difficult to capture due to time and size challenges, and the inaccessibility of food production line for analysis of these processes.<br/>Microfluidics allow visualisation of very fast processes occurring during the production of for example, two phase systems such as emulsions and foams. Various tools have been developed within our lab that allow to focus on interface formation and stabilisation at very short time scales. These tools also allow distinction of interfacial tension effects from coalescence effects in relation to the size of the structures that are formed, which is a classical dilemma that until now has not been addressed at this level of detail.<br/>These new techniques will contribute to more flexible use of ingredients, allowing product design based on the actual functionality of components. For example, replacement of animal-based products with their plant-based counterparts, and also the use of biomass (e.g., leaves and stems) that are currently considered waist can truly contribute to more sustainable food production practice, but only if the functionality of these components is such that they lead to stable products. I could imagine that the techniques developed are ultimately used to do fast screening, comparison of ingredients, and even to establish a connection with more classic processing technologies, such as high pressure homogenization and foaming techniques given the similarity in conditions.