Akhila Vijayakumar

Project Title: Pro-Carbs -“ Valorisation of carbohydrate-rich fractions from biomass waste streams generated in plant protein extraction processes”

Overview: Akhila is the Walsh Scholar of Pro-Carbs project, a joint research project between Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark and University of Valencia, Spain. She is interested in the valorisation of carbohydrate-rich fractions from biomass waste streams generated in plant protein extraction processes. In recent years, underutilised plant sources have gained much attention as an alternative protein source. However, most of this plant biomass is actually not protein. Hence, the sustainability of the alternative protein ingredients currently being developed relies on the complete exploitation and vaporization of the plant biomass, beyond its protein content.

Through her Pro carbs project, Akhila aims to address this gap by extracting, characterizing and valorising carbohydrate rich fractions from protein side streams using a cascading approach to demonstrate an innovative and more sustainable approach to obtain plant-derived ingredients with attractive characteristics for the industry.

Akhila is experienced in working with biomaterials for developing novel food packaging materials.

Programme Area: Food Chemistry and Technology 

Supervisors: Laura Gomez Gomez- Mascaraque, Rita Hickey, and Maria de los Desamparados Lopez Rubio

Location: Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork 

Funding Source: Teagasc