Congratulations to Jingyi Xue on having her research paper published in Food Hydrocolloids. The article, entitled "Development of novel biopolymer-based dendritic nanocomplexes for encapsulation of phenolic bioactive compounds: A proof-of-concept study", reports our research findings that demonstrate an innovative strategy to develop dendritic nanoparticles from food biopolymers without using organic solvents or synthetic chemical. The food biopolymers used in this study include phytoglycogen and zein, carbohydrate and protein respectively, both from corn. Antimicrobial phytochemicals are encapsulated into such nanoparticles which exhibited significantly improved bioactivity, including higher antioxidant activity and stronger antibacterial efficacy against foodborne human pathogens. The potential of these nanocomplexes as carriers for lipophilic and phenolic antimicrobial compounds opens up new avenues for nanotechnology enabled approaches to ensure food safety and quality. Please read the article here.

Congratulations to Bai Qu on having her review paper published in Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, a new Open Access journal companion to the well-established and prestigious journal Carbohydrate Polymers. The article entitled "A review on the preparation and characterization of chitosan-clay nanocomposite films and coatings for food packaging applications", provides an overview of fabrication methods that are specifically applied for the preparation of chitosan-clay nanocomposite films and coatings, and then summarizes the advances made in the most recent five years for their food packaging applications. Please read the article here.

Congratulations to Bai Qu on having her first research paper published in Food Chemistry, a prestigious journal in the field of food science. The article, entitled "Self-assembled caseinate-laponite^® nanocomposites for curcumin delivery", described a novel method to prepare a self-assembled protein-nanoclay system for curcumin delivery. The as-prepared sodium caseinate-laponite (NaCas-LAP) composites were characterized for colloidal properties and encapsulation capabilities, as well as antioxidant activities. Please read the article here.