PROFESSIONAL OVERVIEW : Mulvaney

My overall approach to research has been the integration of three separate and distinct areas into a new way of thinking about the physical properties and processing of food biopolymer systems.  The three general areas are: polymer science and physics, food polymer science, and rheology. Biopolymers studied include cereals, casein and whey proteins, wheat doughs and glutens, and pectin-based gels. The above biopolymers (when plasticized) have enabled us to work with a broad range of interesting soft solid gels, doughs and melts.  Research focus has narrowed over the last five years to development of objective methods for characterization of the viscoelasticity of wheat gluten as an important index of wheat quality.