Neutrons and Food 8 at MLZ

Neutron scattering experiments, particularly on soft matter, often require precise labelling in order to target selected parts of the material to be studied. Due to the large quantity of hydrogen atoms in soft matter and the marked contrast between hydrogen and its isotope, deuterium, selectively replacing hydrogen atoms with deuterium is a versatile strategy to influence the contrast within a...

Pea proteins have gained interest due to their potential to become a sustainable alternative to animal derived food proteins. Today most development work is focused on the protein fraction but requires further studies on the interaction between different components. Of particular interest are the interactions with lipids, as there is lack of fundamental knowledge despite their key role in the...

Soft matter systems, such as colloids and emulsions, are central to food architecture. Their structural response to mechanical forces - like those during mixing or pumping - dictates final texture and stability. In this study, we investigate the interplay between shear flow and microstructure in a stable, surfactant-free glycerol-in-silicone oil emulsion.To overcome the limitations of...

Neutron imaging has rapidly become a powerful technique across many scientific fields, offering unique contrast for light elements and hydrogenous materials through methods such as conventional radiography and tomography, grating interferometry, and wavelength-resolved imaging. While neutron scattering is widely established in food science, the community has only begun to exploit the...

The gentle yet cost-efficient drying of sensitive products in the food and pharmaceutical industries is becoming increasingly important. However, the freeze-drying process is very time-consuming and costly, which is due to poor mass and heat transfer. Therefore, a microwave freeze-drying process was developed, in which the bulk material is continuously mixed in a rotating drum.
To determine...

Foam is critical in achieving satisfactory consumer perception for many food products, e.g. cappuccino-style beverages. Plant-based milks are increasingly used as dairy alternatives, but they often fail to match the foamability and stability of their dairy rivals, with substantial variation across plant sources. Our previous study has revealed notable differences among plant-based and dairy...

TOFTOF is a direct geometry disc-chopper time-of-flight spectrometer. A cascade of seven fast rotating disc choppers is used to prepare a monochromatic pulsed beam which is focussed onto the sample by a converging super-mirror section. The scattered neutrons are detected by 1000 $^3$He detector tubes with a time resolution up to 50 ns. The detectors are mounted at a distance of 4 m and cover...

Water migration is a key factor in bread staling, influencing texture and freshness through redistribution between crumb and crust. In this work, neutron imaging is used as a non-invasive technique to study water migration in bread during staling with high spatial and temporal resolution, taking advantage of the strong sensitivity of neutrons to hydrogen. This approach allows changes in local...

Neutron scattering is an established method for investigating the static and dynamic properties of materials. However, many interesting studies can only be performed on small samples and typically require bulky, extreme environments. Furthermore, since the brilliance of existing neutron sources is limited for technical reasons, sophisticated neutron optics are needed to transport and focus the...