Project

Pulsed electric field pre-treatment for drying of living bacteria

PhD defended by Evelien Vaessen at Wageningen University on 12 October 2020

The aim of this project is to increase the robustness of living bacteria during spray drying and subsequent storage. Currently beneficial bacteria such as probiotics or starter cultures are often stored in freeze-dried formulation. Spray dried living bacterial formulations would lead to a decreased energy cost for the process and more/broader applications in the (food) industry. The strategy to increase the robustness of the bacteria employs pulsed electric field technology leading to reversible pore formation in the bacterial cell membrane. This project is supported by ISPT.