Stefan Kasapis

Professor of Food Science with over 30 years of experience working with the food industry to develop/improve novel and healthy formulations.

As an early career researcher, Prof. Kasapis further developed his interest in the structural, nutritional and bioactive functionality of materials. These include dietary fibre and protein as model systems in the presence of lipids and other co-solutes (e.g., sugars and their replacers) or bioactive compounds (e.g., vitamins and antioxidants) in order to develop novel formulations for the food and nutraceutical industries. He was fortunate in the early days of his research work to be mentored by leading authorities in his field, e.g. Prof. John Mitchell at the University of Nottingham/UK who was Editor of Carbohydrate Polymers (SJR Q1).

Through the years, Prof. Kasapis held several administrative appointments, including Assistant Dean of Research, Head of the Department of Food Sciences, Head of Food Sciences Research Drive, and Coordinator of the Graduate Programme in Food Sciences. At RMIT University, he is responsible for the coordination/delivery of several advanced food technology courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Prof. Kasapis maintains a strong research focus, currently heading a research group of 12 PhD students funded by ARC Linkage, Australia Awards, Research Training Scheme (RTS), and the School of Science at RMIT. Two postdoctoral research workers are currently employed in his laboratory funded by ARC Linkage and the fight food waste (FFW) CRC. He has established a laboratory in the techno- and bio-functionality of food materials, and utilises the central research facilities of RMIT University for his research in the City and Bundoora campus.

Prof. Kasapis has worked extensively with food industry around the world in the development of a range of novel food products which resulted in the following intellectual property for the industry partner:

Patents

• 2020 - Nassar, N., Istivan, T. & Kasapis, S. Formulations for delivery of bioactive agents. Australian Patent 2020904616.
• 2010 - Foo, C.W., Kasapis, S., Koh, L.W. & Jiang, B. Alginate use to encapsulate starch in instant soup-based rice noodle. WO Patent 022764.
• 2004 - Kasapis, S., Al-Oufi, H. S. & Al-Maamari, S. Minced fish products of improved eating quality. GCC Patent 4037.
• 2003 - Kasapis, S., Al-Oufi, H. S. & Al-Maamari, S. Minced fish products of improved eating quality. Irish Patent 2003/0921.
• 2001 - Gupta, B.B., Kasapis, S. & Alevisopoulos, S. Water-continuous spread. UK Patent 2 323 092 B.
• 1998 - Gupta, B.B., Kasapis, S. & Alevisopoulos. S. Water-continuous spread. UK Patent 2 323 092 A.
• 1998 - Gupta, B.B., Kasapis, S. & Alevisopoulos. S. Water-continuous spread. European Patent 0 864 255 A2.
• 1997 - Gupta, B.B. & Kasapis, S. Water-continuous spread. United States Patent 5 614 245.
• 1995 - Gupta, B.B. & Kasapis, S. Water-continuous spread. European Patent 0 672 350 B1.
• 1995 - Gupta, B.B. & Kasapis, S. Water-continuous spread. European Patent 0 672 350 A2.

Research interests focus on the conformation-structure-function relationships of plant/marine/bacterial polysaccharides in model systems, and in the presence of proteins, lipids and other co-solutes (e.g., sugars) or bioactive compounds (e.g., antioxidants) in order to develop novel products for the food and nutraceutical industries.

Low and high-solid biomaterials increasingly include a number of proteins and non-starchy polysaccharides to deliver a range of properties such as structure, storage stability, processability and delivery control in a wide range of products. Under various conditions of industrial processing, food ingestion and drug delivery, proteins and polysaccharides exhibit a wide range of conformational properties, which should be understood on fundamental grounds for successful development of added value formulations.

Research interests also encompass the field of preventing/masking malodorous flavour owing to the use of plant protein isolates in processed foods, which is a significant barrier to their use as replacers of animal based proteins. This work has led to fundamental studies on the high temperature interactions between proteins and phenolic compounds, in which, for the first time, covalent adducts were found to have formed as a direct result of heat treatment.

Plant proteins, Phenolics, Dietary fibre, Fat replacers, Diffusion, Bioactive compound delivery, Glass transition

• Valorisation of waste products
• Behaviour of food systems under high pressure/temperature
• Optimisation of plant protein flavour and functionality
• Novel bioactive delivery systems
• Incorporation of insoluble dietary fibres
• Structure/function relationships in novel food products
• Sensory evaluation of processed formulations

• Protein interactions in UHT/HPP processed plant protein systems
• Protein-phenolic interactions in ultra-high temperature (UHT) processed liquid food systems
• Seasonal waste effect upon potential value of the circular economy
• Stimuli responsive on-off switching in bioactive compound release from high-solid biopolymer systems
• Use of Z-stack imaging to quantify the phase behaviour of biomaterial composites in relation to theoretical predictions of blending laws from rheological measurements
• Inclusion of plant based materials in novel beverage formulations
• Identification extraction and isolation of phytochemicals from plant sources (mushrooms, pitaya fruit, oats & wheat) for inhibition of digestive enzymes and enhancement of nutritional profile in processed food