A crystal engineering approach to tailor functional properties of food formulations

  • Crystallization
  • 17 June 2025, Online at 4.00 pm CEST

About

Food products are complex multiphase materials often including crystalline phases. To give few examples: ice cream is a semi-solid foam where fat crystals’ aggregates stabilize air bubbles, whereas fine ice crystals provide the characteristic texture of this popular dessert. The main ingredient of chocolate is instead cocoa butter, a mixture of triglycerides that result in crystals with a complex polymorphic landscape; choosing the right crystal structure is necessary to ensure the desired texture, mouthfeel and shelf-life.

Precise design and control of food crystallization processes is, hence, essential to guarantee food quality. Furthermore, food crystalline particles can be precisely engineered to obtain novel multiphase formulation with enhanced nutritional and textural properties, as well as flavors.

In this webinar, guest speaker Dr. Elena Simone from Politecnico di Torino will present two case studies:

  1. Design and control of crystallization processes for the confectionary industry [1]
  2. Application of crystal engineering tools (experimental and modelling) for the design of multiphase formulations such as particle-stabilized foams and emulsions [2-3]

References:

[1] Simone et al. A synchrotron X-ray scattering study of the crystallization behavior of mixtures of confectionary triacylglycerides: Effect of chemical composition and shear on polymorphism and kinetics. Food Research International, 2024, 177, 113864

[2] Tenorio-Garcia et al. Fabrication and stability of dual Pickering double emulsions stabilized with food-grade particles. Food Hydrocolloids, 2024, 156, 110327

[3] Del Duca et al. A crystal engineering approach for rational design of curcumin crystals for Pickering stabilization of emulsions. Food Research International, 2024, 194, 114871.

Webinar date & time:
Tuesday, 17th of June, 2025
4.00 pm CET | 10.00 am EDT | 7.30 pm IST 
Register for the webinar
Cocoa butter based oleofoam

Cocoa butter based oleofoam

Guest speaker

Dr. Elena Simone

Full Professor at Politecnico di Torino

Dr. Elena Simone obtained her BSc and MSc in chemical engineering from the University of Pisa (Italy). After a short period as research assistant in Unilever R&D (Colworth, UK), in 2012 she started her PhD in Chemical Engineering at Loughborough University (UK). She graduated in 2015, and after a short postdoc between Loughborough and Purdue University (US), in 2016 she joined the school of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds (UK), as lecturer in Food Crystal Engineering. Since 2021 she has been associate professor (full professor since 2024) in chemical engineering and European Research Council fellow at Politecnico di Torino (Italy).