Solving smoke taint: Overcoming the impacts of vineyard exposure to smoke. Vineyard exposure to bushfire smoke can taint grapes, causing significant revenue losses where smoky, ashy characters render wine unsaleable. Smoke taint therefore remains an ongoing threat to the viability of the wine industry. This project aims to safeguard grape and wine quality by building the wine industry’s capacity to predict, mitigate and respond to risk associated with vineyard smoke exposure. Expected outcomes i ....Solving smoke taint: Overcoming the impacts of vineyard exposure to smoke. Vineyard exposure to bushfire smoke can taint grapes, causing significant revenue losses where smoky, ashy characters render wine unsaleable. Smoke taint therefore remains an ongoing threat to the viability of the wine industry. This project aims to safeguard grape and wine quality by building the wine industry’s capacity to predict, mitigate and respond to risk associated with vineyard smoke exposure. Expected outcomes include establishing the mechanism by which smoke compounds are taken up by grapes and the factors that influence their sensory impact on wine. The development of innovative and interdisciplinary strategies for detecting and alleviating smoke taint will deliver important economic benefit to the Australian wine sector.Read moreRead less
Biological control of grapevine scales. Wine grapes can be grown with a minimum of pesticide and fungicide applications in some regions, but biological control is still required to maintain populations of major pests. This project is concerned with grapevine and frosted scales, which are common pests of grapevines. The distribution and identity of different grapevine scales, and their main parasitoids, in the various grape growing regions of Australia will be determined by initial surveys. Exper ....Biological control of grapevine scales. Wine grapes can be grown with a minimum of pesticide and fungicide applications in some regions, but biological control is still required to maintain populations of major pests. This project is concerned with grapevine and frosted scales, which are common pests of grapevines. The distribution and identity of different grapevine scales, and their main parasitoids, in the various grape growing regions of Australia will be determined by initial surveys. Experiments and laboratory studies of the interaction of the various predators and parasitoids will be undertaken to develop a biological control program of the scales aimed at reducing pesticide input.Read moreRead less
Pacific Labour and Australian Horticulture. This 18-month research project will investigate the costs and benefits of increasing labour mobility between the Pacific and Australia, including the feasibility of a seasonal labour program to employ agricultural workers from Pacific Island nations in the Swan Hill/Mildura region during periods of peak labour demand. It will forge a ground-breaking collaboration between an international development agency and local government to investigate how such a ....Pacific Labour and Australian Horticulture. This 18-month research project will investigate the costs and benefits of increasing labour mobility between the Pacific and Australia, including the feasibility of a seasonal labour program to employ agricultural workers from Pacific Island nations in the Swan Hill/Mildura region during periods of peak labour demand. It will forge a ground-breaking collaboration between an international development agency and local government to investigate how such a scheme might contribute simultaneously to economic and social development in Pacific Island nations (through remittances and skills transfers) and in regional Australia (by improving the labour supply to key horticultural industries).Read moreRead less
Flavour enhancing functional feeds for farmed Barramundi. This project aims to improve the flavour quality of Australian farmed barramundi through developing novel functional feeds. The project expects to expand our fundamental knowledge of flavour enhancement, whilst providing practical benefits with respect to final product quality. The project will enable industry to achieve higher product quality benchmarks, towards the ultimate goal of improving the marketability of barramundi both locally ....Flavour enhancing functional feeds for farmed Barramundi. This project aims to improve the flavour quality of Australian farmed barramundi through developing novel functional feeds. The project expects to expand our fundamental knowledge of flavour enhancement, whilst providing practical benefits with respect to final product quality. The project will enable industry to achieve higher product quality benchmarks, towards the ultimate goal of improving the marketability of barramundi both locally and overseas. This project will provide significant benefits to the Australian barramundi industry by increasing product values, thereby facilitating an economically sustainable growth of this important regional industry.Read moreRead less
Insoluble-fibre enriched beverages. Insoluble-fibre enriched beverages. This project aims to develop healthy new beverages, by studying the effect of chemistry and physical interactions of insoluble dietary fibre with other food ingredients. Insoluble fibre reduces the risk of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. This project will research how insoluble-fibre linked phytochemicals behave in complex matrices and contribute to malodorous flavours; and design adv ....Insoluble-fibre enriched beverages. Insoluble-fibre enriched beverages. This project aims to develop healthy new beverages, by studying the effect of chemistry and physical interactions of insoluble dietary fibre with other food ingredients. Insoluble fibre reduces the risk of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. This project will research how insoluble-fibre linked phytochemicals behave in complex matrices and contribute to malodorous flavours; and design advanced experimental protocols to prevent undesirable sensory characteristics in liquid systems.Read moreRead less
Improving water use efficiency of grapevine production in the Great Western region using effluent water and soil amelioration practices. Irrigation of vineyards with municipal wastewater is a desirable option for the viticulturists of the Great Western region of Victoria, but only if vineyard soil structure is not adversely affected. This project will (1) study the impact of dissolved chemicals in the waste water on the structure of the local sandy soils; (2) model the data to enhance understand ....Improving water use efficiency of grapevine production in the Great Western region using effluent water and soil amelioration practices. Irrigation of vineyards with municipal wastewater is a desirable option for the viticulturists of the Great Western region of Victoria, but only if vineyard soil structure is not adversely affected. This project will (1) study the impact of dissolved chemicals in the waste water on the structure of the local sandy soils; (2) model the data to enhance understanding of the key chemical and physical mechanisms controlling grey water impact in heterogeneous environments. The resulting predictive tools will have direct application in the Great Western region's vineyards, and for irrigation of grey water in vineyards across Ausralia.Read moreRead less
Understanding the structure-function relationship of dietary fibre for engineering novel food products with superior textural properties and nutrition. The focus of this project will be on the merits of dietary fibre from underutilised agricultural by-products as valuable ingredients in food products. This project aims to innovate by developing high quality foods using dietary fibre, hence delivering socioeconomic benefits through a healthier population and increased financial returns to agri-fo ....Understanding the structure-function relationship of dietary fibre for engineering novel food products with superior textural properties and nutrition. The focus of this project will be on the merits of dietary fibre from underutilised agricultural by-products as valuable ingredients in food products. This project aims to innovate by developing high quality foods using dietary fibre, hence delivering socioeconomic benefits through a healthier population and increased financial returns to agri-food processors.Read moreRead less
Incorporation of legume protein in liquid breakfast for a healthy Australia. This project aims to understand and control the properties and interactions of legume protein with other ingredients (e.g. whey protein and dietary fibre) to formulate healthy liquid foods with superior techno-functionality. This research should significantly broaden our understanding of the behaviour of legume protein-phospholipid complexes and their contribution to malodorous flavour development. The expected outcomes ....Incorporation of legume protein in liquid breakfast for a healthy Australia. This project aims to understand and control the properties and interactions of legume protein with other ingredients (e.g. whey protein and dietary fibre) to formulate healthy liquid foods with superior techno-functionality. This research should significantly broaden our understanding of the behaviour of legume protein-phospholipid complexes and their contribution to malodorous flavour development. The expected outcomes are protocols to prevent undesirable sensory characteristics in liquid foods. This should benefit the food industry by improving the sensory attributes of beverages enriched with legume protein, leading to the creation of novel, highly nutritious products with superior sensory attributes and long shelf-life.Read moreRead less
Creation of a new branch of food research by utilising whey protein in the development of novel products of low calorie content and glycemic response. Australian consumers are demanding healthy foods, yet our society is suffering from 'diseases of choice' such as obesity that largely result from our lifestyle. One particular problem is the low intake of nutrients in contemporary diet. Growing consumer interest in readily available and affordable foods with good nutrition has focused the industry ....Creation of a new branch of food research by utilising whey protein in the development of novel products of low calorie content and glycemic response. Australian consumers are demanding healthy foods, yet our society is suffering from 'diseases of choice' such as obesity that largely result from our lifestyle. One particular problem is the low intake of nutrients in contemporary diet. Growing consumer interest in readily available and affordable foods with good nutrition has focused the industry on the merits of whey protein in processed products. This project will address the issue of consumer acceptability of whey-protein based products by rationalising at the molecular level the interactions of the protein with soluble dietary fibre and starch leading to added value formulations of appealing texture, low-calorie content and low glycemic load.Read moreRead less
Intelligent bioprocessing for next-generation nutritional yeast extracts. This project aims to provide new, science-based levers for optimising the industrial production of tailormade yeast extracts for food applications. Advanced biochemical and engineering methods will be used to develop new knowledge of the links between yeast growth conditions, cell biochemistry, processing and the flavour and texture profiles of yeast hydrolysates. This understanding will allow the properties of yeast hydro ....Intelligent bioprocessing for next-generation nutritional yeast extracts. This project aims to provide new, science-based levers for optimising the industrial production of tailormade yeast extracts for food applications. Advanced biochemical and engineering methods will be used to develop new knowledge of the links between yeast growth conditions, cell biochemistry, processing and the flavour and texture profiles of yeast hydrolysates. This understanding will allow the properties of yeast hydrolysates to be accurately tuned during yeast production and processing. The resulting process improvements and innovations will increase the efficiency and quality of current yeast extract products and allow the development of new food products.Read moreRead less