University of Helsinki
In December 2019, Fabio Valoppi obtained the Proof of Concept grant (HiPOC) from the Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE) of the University of Helsinki for his project entitled “Functional oleogels with health enhancing ability (FUN-OLEO)”. Within this project, Fabio and his collaborators are transforming oleogels into novel functional materials using an unusual route.
Oleogels are considered the “fat of the future” and were developed to replace saturated, hydrogenated and trans fats in food products. They contain high fractions of liquid oil (85 – 99.5%) entrapped in a network made of structuring molecules. However, oleogels have some drawbacks that slow down their application in certain type of foods. Fabio came up with a novel concept that could extend oleogels’ applicability to a broader range of food products while introducing a new health enhancing ability: this is how you kill two pigeons with one stone!
The purpose of this HiPOC grant is to accelerate the patenting of Fabio’s novel idea. Unfortunately, we cannot reveal too much about the idea behind the project at this time. We can only say that we already obtained encouraging results! Stay tuned for more updates and to find out how this project will evolve.