Food Structures, Digestion and Health

Mike Boland joined the Riddet Institute in 2006 after 15 years in the dairy industry, first with the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute and then with Fonterra. During this time he headed a group involved in protein research and was General Manager for strategic research. He was also Global Program Leader for the New Zealand Dairy Board's Milk Characteristics program. Extensive liaison with high profile overseas researchers in the UK, USA and Germany enabled Dr Boland to bring the very best of those collaborations to his New Zealand work resulting in excellence in commercial processes and innovation for New Zealand. Dr Boland has published about 80 papers and 6 patents. Harjinder Singh is a Distinguished Professor and Director of the Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology. He is also the Co-Director of the Riddet Institute, a National Centre of Research Excellence in food science and nutrition. Professor Singh's research focuses on milk protein structures and functionality, food emulsions, protection and encapsulation of bioactive compounds, and digestive behavior of food structures. He has published over 300 research papers in international journals, and is co-inventor of 15 patents some which have formed the basis of commercial innovations. He has presented over 110 keynote addresses at national and international conferences.

Section 1: Understanding food structures in natural and processed foods and their behavior during physiological processing1. Understanding food structures: The colloid science approach2. Processing of food structures in the gastrointestinal tract and physiological responses3. The basis of structure in dairy-based foods: Casein micelles and their properties4. The milk fat globule membrane: Structure, methodology for its study and functionalitySection 2: Impact of food structures and matrices on nutrient uptake and bioavailability5. Exploring the relationship between fat surface area and lipid digestibility6. Protein - polysaccharide interactions and digestion of the complex particles7. Muscle structure and digestive enzyme bio-accessibility to intracellular compartment8. Cotyledon cell structure and in vitro starch digestion in navy beansSection 3: Modelling the gastrointestinal tract9. Mathematical models of food degradation in the human stomach10. An improved understanding of gut function through high-resolution mapping and multiscale computational modelling of the gastrointestinal tract11. Novel approaches to tracking the breakdown and modification of food proteins through digestion12. Dynamics of gastric contents during digestion-computational and rheological considerationsSection 4: Food developments to meet the modern challenges of human health13. Applying structuring approaches for satiety: Challenges faced, lessons learned14. Technological means to modulate food digestion and physiological response15. Describing dietary energy – Towards the formulation of specialist weight-loss foods16. Combined phytosterol and fish oil therapy for lipid lowering and cardiovascular health17. Dairy materials as delivery tools for bioactive components in dairy platforms18. The importance of microbiota and host interactions throughout life