Structuring alternative proteins extracted from grass and other forage species for food applications
PhD RESEARCH PROJECT
July 2025
Conferring ceremony
Truly memorable day as I celebrated my PhD conferring ceremony at University College Cork!
May 2025
23rd INFOGEST Viva
February 2025
Publication about protein extraction from different varieties of Quinoa leaves
Our paper entitled: Quinoa leaves as a source of soluble proteins: Extraction and proteomic characterization from four different varieties of Chenopodium quinoa has been published as a result of our collaboration with the Encap4Health project and Universidad de la frontera.
November 2024
Thesis defense
I successfully defended my PhD thesis titled “Structuring alternative proteins extracted from grass and other forage species for food applications”, which was conducted in Teagasc and University College Cork
I am thankful to everyone who has supported and encouraged me during the past 4 years. I am grateful to my supervisor Laura G. Gómez-Mascaraque for her invaluable guidance during this journey. Also thank you to my supervisors Seamus O’Mahony and Mark Fenelon for their support, inputs and advices.
I would like to express my gratitude to my examiners Aylin W. Sahin and Atze Jan Van Der Goot for taking the time to correct my thesis and the critical discussion during the Viva.
October 2024
6th Food Structure and Functionality Symposium, Bruges, Belgium
October 2024
3rd NIZO Plant Protein Functionality Conference, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
Assisting to the NIZO plant protein conference to give an oral presentation: Structuring alternative proteins extracted from grass and other alternative forages for food applications.
September 2024
22nd IUFoST World Congress of Food Science & Technology, Rimini, Italy
Assisting to the IUFOST conference to give an oral presentation: Perennial ryegrass and quinoa leaves as a source of alternative proteins: nutritional value and techno-functional properties.
May 2024
In vitro food digestion models and their application for pectin and protein-based microcapsules
May 2024
Walsh Scholar of the year event
April – July 2024
Research Visit in Aarhus University
APRIL 2024
8th International Conference on FOOD DIGESTION, Porto, Portugal
Assisting to the INFOGEST conference to present the work «Rating the nutritional value of protein extracted from grass and other green leaves for human consumption»
march 2024
Paper of the year
I am very excited to share that our paper previously published “Impact of the extraction method on the composition an solubility of leaf protein concentrates from perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)” has won the price to the best publication of the year by the School of the Food and Nutritional Sciences of UCC.
february 2024
Publication about the emulsifying properties of protein extracts from grass.
Very happy to share that our research paper “Tailoring the emulsifying properties of protein extracts from perennial rye-grass” has been published in Food Hydrocolloids.
december 2023
51st Annual Food Science and Technology Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
Presenting the poster entitled “Assessing perennial ryegrass as a source of proteins with potential functional properties for food applications”
december 2023
Workshop Life Farm4more, Dublin, Ireland
Great experience assisting to the workshop about the work undergoing to establishing an Irish Green Biorefinery sector.
november 2023
9th International Conference on Food Chemistry & Technology, Paris, France
I was presenting a summary of my PhD about Structuring food using alternative proteins extracted from green leaves in a format of oral communication.
I also had the honour to co-chair one of the session of the conference.
november 2023
37th EFFoST International Conference 2023, Valencia, Spain
october 2023
The national food imaging centre.
Participating in the video recorded about the facilities avaible in the microscopy lab of Teagast Moorepark.
september 2023
Second publication on the project
July 2023
Paper published from our colaboration with Teagasc Ashtown.
July 2023
Moorepark Open day.
June 2023
21st Gums & Stabilisers for the Food Industry Conference, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Doing my first oral presentation about Tailoring quinoa leaves (Chenopodium quinoa) as a source of soluble proteins for food applications.
January 2023
Encap4Health annual meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Taking part in the annual project meeting to present our results of my secondment of 8 months in UFRO, Temuco, Chile.
November 2022
36th EFFoST international conference, Dublin, Ireland.
Assisting to the conference to present our poster about: Evaluation of quinoa leaves as a protein source
October 2022
21st IUFoST World Congress of Food Science & Technology, Singapore
Assisting to the conference about Future of Food: Innovation, Sustainability & Health.
October 2022
2nd NIZO Plant Protein Functionality Conferencein
Protein-stabilized emulsions prepared using protein extracts from green leaves.
September 2022
5th Food Structure and Functionality Forum Symposium 2022, Cork, Ireland.
My supervisor Laura G. Gómez-Mascaraque presented our poster about: «Emulsifying properties of protein extracts obtained from perennial ryegrass leaves.
July 2022
III Congreso de estudiantes y Graduados de Postgrado UFRO, Temuco, Chile.
Presenting our poster about the extraction and characterization of protein concentrates from different quinoa leaves.
July 2022
Training on MALDI-TOF-TOF
My research stay in UFRO has been an excellent opportunity to get training on proteomic techniques. During my visit in UFRO I am learning from Dra. Nathalia Baptista Dias expert on Mass spectroscopy.
June 2022
First Publication on the project
March 2022
Starting a research secondment in UFRO
Thanks to the project Encap4Health I will be doing a research visit to Universidad de la Frontera, (Temuco, Chile) during the next eight months.
Aimed to study the functional properties of proteins from quinoa leaves to develop functional delivery systems.
November 2021
Lab work
Working in the lab to assess the functional properties of proteins obtained from Perennial ryegrass leaves.
October 2021
4th Food Structure And Functionality Symposium
Happy to share the last results in the 4th Food Structure and Functionality Symposium.
Presenting a poster of the latest results «Extraction and functionality of soluble proteins from perennial ryegrass leaves».
October 2021
Plan Protein Science and Technology Forum
Presenting a poster of the latest results «Tailoring the Composition and extraction Yield of Soluble Proteins from Perennial Ryegrass Leaves».
July 2021
Using liquid nitrogen safely
Workshop with Gas Safety Training about the safely handling of cryogenic liquids
August 2021
Research integrity training
September 2021
Food Research Day
Taking part in the Food Research Day 2021, I presented a flash presentation of the last results obtained in the lab.
September 2021
Kick-Off your PhD course
July 2021
Teagasc Walsh Scholar of the Year Competition
Assisting to the Teagasc Walsh Scholar event and presenting a poster of the current work about Extraction of soluble proteins from Perennial Ryegrass leaves.
May 2021
Alternative proteins
The development of alternative proteins is a must to achieve a sustainable diet.
Thanks to Vistamilk and The Vidacademy for the training course.
March 2021
Spring has come
Spring is a beautiful time in Ireland; however, it seems that the protein content in green leaves is reduced during this season.
December 2020
Encap4Health Project
Participating in the European project Encap4Health Project aimed to identify innovative biopolymers and enhance more efficient and sustainable processing technologies for encapsulation. Developing a new generation of highly functional delivery systems for functional food ingredients.
January 2021
Enroled in a CPD certificate
The Continuing Proffesional Development given by UCC encompasses 4 modules to complete my research activities:
- Analysis and interpretation of experimental data with Mathematical and Statistical Toold.
- Scientific Writing and communication.
- Leadership skills.
- Career Planning, Development and Management.
February 2021
Grass Biorefinery
Attending to the webinar «Grass Biorefinery, is the grass green on the other side». An interesting conferences which presented a range of different products from grass and the brader role that green biorefineries play in agriculture to become more resilent and sustainable.
april 2021
Lab Health & safety training
- Lab biosafety Awereness Safety Training
- Lab Chemical Safety Training
- Lab Risk Assessment Training
November 2020
Collecting forage samples
With Dr. Laura Mascaraque and Dr. Deirdre Hennessey collecting a mixed swards at Moorepark.
Multi-species mixture are a combination of diverse forage species which mantain a steady growth rate, at reduced fertilizer applications.
October 2020
Register in UCC
The fist step in this journey was registered as a Master Student in Food Sciences and Technology.
I will be doing the research work in Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Center in partnership with University College Cork.