Curriculum Vitae

• 2008 Post-doctoral Associate Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, USA
• 2006 PhD Food Physics, Wageningen University
• 2001 MSc Physical and Colloid Chemistry, Utrecht University
• 1997 BSc Organic Chemistry, University College, Etten-Leur

Latest Articles (2019)

van Eck, A., Wijne, C., Fogliano, V., Stieger, M., Scholten, E. Shape up! How shape, size and addition of condiments influence eating behavior of vegetables. Food and Function 2020

Rudge, R.E.D., Scholten, E., Dijksman, J. Natural and Induced Roughness Determine Frictional Regimes in Hydrogel Pairs, Tribology International 2020, 141, 105903.

Santagiuliana, M Sampedro Marigómez, I., Broers, L., Hayes, J.E., Piqueras-Fiszman, B., Scholten, E., Stieger, M. Exploring variability in detection thresholds of microparticles through participant characteristics, Food and Function 2019, 10, 5386.

Fuhrmann, P.L., Kalisvaart, L.C.M., Sala, G., Scholten, E., Stieger, M. Clustering of oil droplets in o/w emulsions enhances perception of oil-related sensory attributes, Food Hydrocolloids 2019, 97, 105215.

Rudge, RED, Scholten, E., Dijksman, J. Soft Solid Tribology: Advanced and Challenges in soft solid tribology with applications to foods, Current Opinion in Food Science 2019, 27, 90.

Scholten, E. Edible oleogels: How suitable are proteins as a structurant?, Current Opinion in Food Science, 2019, 27, 36.

Santagiuliana, M., Scholten, E., Piqueras-Fiszman, B., Stieger, M. Don't judge new foods by their appearance! How visual and oral sensory cues affect sensory perception and liking of novel, heterogeneous foods, Food Quality and preference 2019, 77, 64.

Fuhrmann, P, Sala, G, Stieger, M, Scholten, E. Clustering of oil droplets in o/w emulsions: Methodologies to control cluster size and interaction strength, Food Research International 2019, 122, 537.

Santagiuliana, M., van den Hoek, I.A.F., Stieger, M., Scholten, E., Piqueras-Fiszman, B. As good as expected? How consumer expectations and addition of vegetable pieces to soups influence sensory perception and liking, Food and Function, 2019, 10, 665.

Zhou, Y., Thijssen, P.P., Yang, X., Scholten, E. The effect of oil type and solvent quality on the rheological behavior of zein- stabilized oil-in-glycerol emulsion gels, Food Hydrocolloids 2019, 91, 57.

van Eck, A., Fogliano, V., Scholten, E., Stieger, M. Adding condiments to foods: How does static and dynamic sensory perception change when bread and carrots are consumed with mayonnaise? Quality and preference 2019, 73, 154.

Zou, Y, Yang, X., Scholten, E. Tuning particle properties to control the rheological behavior of high internal phase emulsion gels stabilized by zein/tannic acid complex particles, Food Hydrocolloids 2019, 89, 163.

Van Eck, A, Hardeman, N., Karatza, N., Fogliano, V., Scholten, E., Stieger, M. Oral processing behavior and dynamic sensory perception of composite foods: Toppings assist saliva in bolus formation, Food Quality and Preference 2019, 71, 497.

Research area

Food systems are often mixtures of ingredients and should therefore be considered as complex mixtures or complex composites. Foods consist often of a combination of different food structures, like gels, foams and emulsions. The food structures can be created by mixing water, fat/oil and air with food ingredients like proteins, polysaccharides and other bio-based molecules. The interactions between these ingredients determine the assembly of these ingredients (collection of ingredients) into larger building blocks and determine which food structures (emulsion, foam, gel) can be created. To provide knowledge to design new food applications, an understanding of complex composites containing a range of different ingredients is therefore desirable.

The properties of food products are often a result of the rheological (for emulsions) and breakdown behavior (for gels), such as the mouthfeel (sensory), stability (shelf-life), appearance, etc. This behavior can be observed on a macroscopic scale (mm-cm). However, these properties are a result of the properties of the smaller building blocks (µm), and the interactions between the ingredients (nm). Thus, to control the properties on a macroscopic scale, one needs to control the interactions/assembly within the building blocks (µm). One can think of the assembly of proteins into protein aggregates or protein particles, the assembly of polysaccharides into larger fibers and nanocrystals, the assembly of triglycerides into fat crystals, or the complexation of proteins and polysaccharides. These building blocks can be used in the bulk phase to provide a stable network for gels or to provide the required viscosity for dispersions. At the interface they are used to change the affinity between the dispersed phase (fat or oil droplets, fibers, etc) and the outer bulk phase.

The macroscopic properties (larger length scales) of complex mixtures is a very relevant aspect, since it is the scale that refers to immediately detectable phenomena such as texture, taste, smell, color, stability, fracture properties, etc. The main questions for these complex mixtures are:

• How can we understand the properties of food products on a macroscopic scale in terms of its composition?
• How can we use different ingredients to control the properties of food products?

This knowledge can be used to design tailor-made food systems, such as functional foods (control digestion), more palatable foods (control sensory properties) and reformulated foods in terms of healthy fats (fat-reduced).

Overall topics:

• Network formation in gels (both aqueous and oil continuous) 
• Rheological and fracture behavior of gels (both aqueous and oil continuous)   
• Composite foods
• Lubrication
• Fat reduction  
• Gastronomy

Current projects:

• Effect of fat droplet distribution on the mechanical and sensory properties of filled gels (Philipp Fuhrman)
• EFfect of microscopic inhomogeneity on the mechanical and sensory properties of foods (Marco Santagiuliana)
• Effect of macroscopic food heterogeneities on the sensory perception and oral behavior of foods (Arianne van Eck)
• Oil structuring (using potential low cost, food grade ingredients) (Auke de Vries)
• Physical and sensory properties of double emulsions (Anika Oppermann)
• Behavior of dense protein particles under different enironmental conditions (Alev Ince)
• Effect of microstructural elements on the properties of ice cream and sorbets

Involved in courses:

• Food Ingredient Functionality (FCH-30306)
• Advanced Molecular Gastronomy (FPH-31306)
• Case Studies (FQD-24306)
• Product and Process Design (FQD-60312)

Available MSc and BSc projects

• Effect of heterogeneities in food (Marco Santagiuliana) 
• Oil structuring: assembly behavior of unsaturated fatty acids 
• Effect of fat droplet distribution in food composites (Philipp Fuhrman)

For additional projects within the Food Physics Group see the web-site or contact Elke Scholten (elke.scholten@wur.nl) for more information