Alejandro Marangoni – Centre for Sustainable Nanomaterials Innovation

Professor, Department of Food Science

Co-Director, Centre for Sustainable Nanomaterials Innovation

Tier I Canada Research Chair in Food, Health and Aging

Keywords

Food chemistry, emulsions, fats, oils, nanomaterials

Education and Employment Background

Alejandro Marangoni received his PhD in Food Chemistry from the University of Guelph. He completed post-doctoral training in the Department of Biochemistry before joining the Department of Food Science faculty in 1991.

Research Themes

Prof. Marangoni’s research works toward the development of novel structured emulsions to use in place of trans fats, saturated fats, and palm oil in foods. Other innovations in this area include the development of oil gels, or oleogels, and using physical structuring to modify the physiological effect of fats and oils. With this research he hopes to create healthier alternatives to high fat foods, without losing the desired flavor or texture. These alternatives may also have applications in improving the health characteristics of cosmetic products, decreasing the environmental impact of the use of lubricants and grease, and improving the sustainability of food production. His research team is also working on improving plant-based meat analogues.

His research focuses on the following major themes:

Investigating the relationship between structure and macroscopic properties of food materials. This research will allow development of novel strategies for the functional replacement of trans and saturated fats in food products such as cheese, processed meat, and many baking products. These strategies can also be used to produce petroleum-free cosmetics.
Studying the factors that control the self-assembly of lipid materials. This research will provide a better understanding of how oleogels form at the nanoscale and allow the creation of new oleogels for applications in food and cosmetics.
Creating fibrous protein structures that mimic meat protein, without using extruders. The goal of this research is to find ways of producing plant-based meat analogues that use less energy and have less carbon footprint than extrusion.
Investigating a series of plant-based proteins for their ability to self-assemble to form fibers, so that they can form an ideal food matrix with other bulk proteins and ingredients. This will simplify the processing of these foods while creating a taste and mouth-feel similar to meat.

Full List of Publications

Highlights

Prof. Marangoni holds more than 40 patents, including edible ethylcellulose oleogels, polymer gelation of oil, heat resistant chocolate and petroleum replacement
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), the American Oil Chemists Society, the Institute of Food Technologists (USA) and a member of the American Physical Society
He is Co-Editor in Chief of the journal Current Opinion in Food Science; Editor-in-Chief of the book series Food Chemistry, Function and Analysis; editorial advisory board member for the journals Food Biophysics and Food and Function; and editorial board member for the journals Food Research International, Food Digestion, and CYTA-Journal of Food.
Prof. Marangoni was the co-recipient of the 2008 Guelph Partners of Innovation “Innovator of the year” award for his discovery of a platform technology for the manufacture of structured oil-in-water emulsions to replace high-saturate and high-trans shortening and serve as a base for cosmetics.
Recipient of the 2019 European Lipid Technology Award from the European Federation of Lipids Science and Technology, 2014 Supelco-Nicholas Pelick Award from the American Oil Chemists Society, 2002 E.W.R. Steacie Fellowship of NSERC (top 6 early career researchers in Canada).