Research

PEF treatment may be utilized by the beer industry to accelerate barley germination to more efficiently produce malt. The malting process takes one week to transform raw barley to malt and involves three steps: steeping, germination, and killing. Malt quality is critically important to achieve the desired attributes of the finished beer.

PEF treatment may be utilized by the beer industry to accelerate barley germination to more efficiently produce malt. The malting process takes one week to transform raw barley to malt and involves three steps: steeping, germination, and killing. Malt quality is critically important to achieve the desired attributes of the finished beer.

PEF treatment may be utilized by the beer industry to accelerate barley germination to more efficiently produce malt. The malting process takes one week to transform raw barley to malt and involves three steps: steeping, germination, and killing. Malt quality is critically important to achieve the desired attributes of the finished beer.

Boise State University in collaboration with Valley Food Tech is working to produce functional extrudate potato protein concentrate using organic Gogu Valley potato variety. The protein will be isolated using an acid-heat coagulation method. The isolated protein will be texturized by the twin screw hot melt extruder to improve the physicochemical and functional properties of the potato protein concentrate. The potato protein concentrate and texturized protein will be used in making functional plant-based products, including ready-to-drink powder mixes, meat analogs, and potato protein-based “chicken” nuggets. After isolating the potato protein, the aqueous starch by-product will be provided upcycled as an ingredient for other food applications, like batters for fried foods. Equipment and supplies are currently being set up and obtained to conduct this work in close collaboration with industry partners.

The objectives for this project include: determination of the impact smoke exposure has on growth and development of three Russet varieties, Assessing the influence of smoke on potato storage resilience and processing quality, and estimating the economic impact on potato product value.

The objectives for this project include: evaluating the extraction of chemical components in grapes used to make chardonnay white wine and assessing the clarity of the wine, with and without PEF treatment. We will also be evaluating the extraction of chemical components and color pigments in grapes used to make Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo wine, with and without PEF treatment. Additionally, we hope to assess the sensory differences between white and red wines produced from grapes that were processed with and without PEF treatment over a two-year period

Our goal is to quantify eight selected bioactive alkaloids and assess variations in commercial Kratom products. We will investigate and compare the concentration of eight known bioactive alkaloids in different Kratom products and assess variation within commercially available products and between product types (i.e., powder, capsules, and extracts).

Dr. Loren Ward, Chief of Research and Development at Glanbia Nutritionals provided three objectives and routine methods currently employed in industry to address the objectives. The objectives include develop an accelerated kinetic model based on degradation rates such that products can be put into accelerated testing to determine overage needed and accelerate product development timelines. To do this we will be using HPLC, UV-Vis, or IR spectroscopy to measure vitamin C, B9, B5, and iron.  Extraction methods for  vitamin C, vitamin B9, iron, and vitamin B5 from RTM drink powder will be used via  liquid extraction techniques.

Our goal is to optimize PEF system parameters during potato chip production, conduct chemical analysis to validate the impact of PEF systems on reducing sugars, amino acids, and acrylamide. We will also explore tuber and vegetable varieties for chip production using PEF application to demonstrate the viability to process safe food products. We hope to improve technology integration into machinery to offer cost reduction of systems to customers, and expand PEF applications to new sectors.

The objectives of this project include: quantitative analysis of lactoferrin using chemometrics, developing an accurate NIR-based analysis method for individual proteins in milk that is superior to the industry standard Kjeldahl approximation of total protein, and also validation of results will be conducted using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). To create an effective and robust calibration model for casein using chemometric techniques.

Our goal is to establish an efficient identification and quantification assessment method for bioactive proteins separated in high–throughput manufacturing settings, using HPLC and MIR spectroscopy. We will also develop a MIR application to assess protein purity and concentration and create a colorimetric method to measure protein stability and degree of denaturation. Results will be validated by CD and DSC.