Juliana M.L.N. de Moura Bell

My area of expertise focuses on the development and application of environmentally friendly technologies to replace the incumbent technology for extracting and fractionating of major food components such as lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates, as well as minor bioactive compounds such as antioxidant phenolics, bioactive peptides, and oligosaccharides. My research goal is to develop structure/function-based processes to produce foods that will improve human health, with the translation of these processes into the industrial realm being my work’s goal. Specifically, I am interested in bio-processing techniques such as enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction, fermentation, and less harsh techniques like supercritical and subcritical extractions. My laboratory research interests include 1) Scaling-up extraction and downstream recovery processes from laboratory to pilot scale; 2) Determining the effects of processing conditions (extraction, heat treatment, enzymatic modifications, and recovery strategies) on the functionality and biological activities of food components and 3) The conversion of agricultural waste streams/food processing by-products into high added-value compounds.

A defining moment in my life, that helped carve my scientific path, came with my first encounter with research as an undergraduate student. A moment that is particularly challenging for students since many of them are still disconnected from lab-related activities. I was mentored by a great scientist on two projects (each one, 1-year in length). Writing my own research project, applying for an annual fellowship, and generating quarterly reports and a final presentation allowed me to put the theoretical information learned in the classroom into perspective and practice. It gave me the opportunity of learning about real-world research needs and to be fully immersed with graduate students in the lab. From that point forward, I had no doubt about wanting to be a researcher and a teacher. I searched for all opportunities available to continue my studies, I obtained an M.S. and Ph. D in Food Technology and had the privilege to work as a postdoctoral scholar at Iowa State University and as Project Scientist at UC Davis before becoming a faculty at the Departments of Food Science and Technology and Biological and Agricultural Engineering at UC Davis.

The surge in interest in using new plant proteins brings a significant opportunity to enhance variety and the nutritional content in our diets. However, the use of new food matrixes will bring challenges related to the development of processes that can maximize the extractability of these compounds with the needed technological functions and nutritional composition for subsequent industrial applications. In addition, because any food that serves as a source of protein has the potential to cause food allergies, the allergenicity aspect becomes another important area of research to enable the development of a holistic process able to produce more functional, nutritional, and safer proteins. 

I plan to elucidate the role of environmentally friendly extraction methods and key extraction parameters on the physicochemical properties of proteins from different matrices and to gain a better understanding of how these structural modifications alter critical aspects related to extraction efficiency and their functional (solubility, emulsification, and foaming properties), nutritional (composition, digestibility) and biological properties (allergenicity, antioxidant properties). The integration of processing efficiency and sustainability with the technological and biological aspects is key to developing a pathway leading to the production of more nutritional and healthier foods.

My lab is currently developing an alternative extraction process to produce almond milk with a higher nutritional content than commercial almond milks, and potentially, with reduced immunoreactivity. This project development relies on extensive processing optimization, ranging from particle size to roasting conditions, and sensory tests describing consumer preference. Another area of research is my lab is the development of pilot-scale processes to isolate bioactive compounds from dairy streams through membrane filtration for subsequent evaluation of their biological properties (e.g., prebiotic, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, among others). We are also developing strategies to enhance the development of bio-guided processing strategies, which rely on the combination of knowledge about structure and functionality to extract unique carbohydrates (i.e., fucoidans, laminarin) from giant kelp and phenolic compounds from grape/olive pomace. In addition, we are applying this strategy to develop holistic processes to extract proteins from chickpeas, almonds, black beans, and lentils with the desired composition, functionality, and biological properties. 

Pulses are a very attractive source of proteins, among many other compounds such as dietary fiber, carbohydrates, and phenolics, that are just begging to be explored. Overall, I feel extremely intrigued by protein hydrolysates in general. Despite their interesting biological and nutritional properties, bitterness is still a key problem that hinders the utilization of these fractions in many food applications.