Physics for food, health and environment (MMAE)

We use soft matter physics approaches and concepts to address societal challenges such as food transitions, environmental protection, and health.

Plant proteins for food

To understand their role in the texturing of food products, we are studying the organization of plant proteins derived from wheat, sunflower, and potato in solution. Our aim is to elucidate their gelation mechanism and their adsorption at interfaces.

*Figure : Wheat gluten model in the gap of a rheometer.*

Environment

Plastic Pollution : We analyze the mechanisms of polymer degradation and fragmentation in various environments. These studies allow us to identify the resulting by-products and understand their impact on ecosystems.

Pesticide Spraying : We evaluate mineral oil formulations used as fungicides to prevent black leaf mold on banana plants. Comparison of direct and inverse emulsions shows that inverse emulsions allow oil to penetrate leaves more effectively than direct emulsions while requiring less oil for treatment.

Health

Floating Biolarvicides : We develop formulations based on vegetable oils and biopolymers to fight the proliferation of mosquitoes. We adjust their buoyancy and thermal stability to maximize their effectiveness in tropical areas.

Liposomal Encapsulation of Drugs : We develop liposomes that can effectively encapsulate active ingredients and control their interactions with lipids. This approach improves the targeted delivery and stability of therapeutic treatments..

Aerosols and Viral Transmission : We are exploring the formation of saliva aerosols and how they dry using model experiments during phonation. This work contributes to a better understanding of respiratory virus transmission mechanisms and helps identify prevention strategies.

Figure : Deformation and destabilization of a 0.02 microL saliva filament under the action of a 10 m/s laminar air flow after uniaxial extension at a rate of 100 s-1 mimicking the opening of the lips.

We have designed a testing platform aimed at limiting animal experimentation. It consists of a model of perfusable mini-bronchi obtained by cell culture in a microfluidic device. Two studies will benefit from this: i) the cocktail effects of combined exposure to pollutants and viruses on lung tissue; ii) the evaluation of gene and cell therapies for ciliary dyskinesia.

*Figure : Mini-bronchus on a chip. Scale bar 200 microns.*

Diffusion and Enzymatic Degradation : In order to understand the transport properties of an enzyme in a dense, viscoelastic medium that it degrades, we developed a setup combining fluorescence imaging and spatially and temporally resolved multispeckle light scattering.