Identifying natural antioxidants to improve shelf life of an oil in water emulsion food system

Lipid oxidation is a major cause of quality deterioration in oil in water emulsion food systems. The most common strategy to retard lipid oxidation is the use of antioxidants. Antioxidants are divided into two categories based on their origin: synthetic and natural. Due to health concerns about synthetic antioxidants, there has been a growing interest in improving oxidative stability of food products with natural ingredients. However, there is a scarcity of knowledge on the effectiveness of natural antioxidants in hetrophasic systems. Sara’s PhD investigates the mechanism of lipid oxidation and the effect of natural antioxidants on retarding lipid oxidation in an oil in water emulsion system. 

Sara completed her PhD of food science in 2018 at The University of Queensland. The main focus of her PhD was using targeted and non-targeted mass spectrometry to profile lipid oxidation in oil in water emulsion food systems and to identify natural antioxidants to retard lipid oxidation. Following her PhD studies she has worked as a senior research assistant at UQ School of Agriculture and Food Sciences. In this position she worked on applying metabolomics to investigate the phytochemicals in plants. Her current research focuses on developing novel sampling methods and target and non-target mass spectrometry strategies to tackle chemicals of emerging concern in humans and the environment.