Solja Pietiäinen

PhD project title: Fractionation of wheat bran for functional ingredients

Short description of the project

This project focuses on fractionating wheat bran to obtain arabinoxylan (AX) with improved yield and properties suitable for bakery applications. AX is an abundant hemicellulose in wheat bran and plays an important role in the structure and quality of baked products, but it is embedded in a complex cell‑wall matrix that makes efficient extraction challenging.

The research aims to develop fractionation processes that optimise AX properties and functionality in bread, improving both nutritional and technological quality. This industrial PhD project is conducted in collaboration with Lantmännen and is funded by SSF and Lantmännen Research Foundation.

Supervisors

Main supervisor

• Maud Langton, Department of Molecular Sciences, SLU

Co-supervisors

• Annelie Moldin, Lantmännen
• Anna Ström, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers
• Christian Malmberg, Lantmännen

Location

Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

I am originally from Finland and earned my MSc degree from the University of Helsinki before moving to Sweden for this PhD project, which I believe has great potential to create positive change. Wheat bran is a major industrial side stream, and if we can turn it into a valuable functional food ingredient, it can help increase the sustainability of cereal production and improve the nutritional quality of our diets.

As an industrial PhD student, I enjoy working at the interface between academia and industry, where theoretical understanding and practical applicability meet.

Solja Pietiäinen, Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), “Modification of wheat bran arabinoxylan extracts for functional properties in breadmaking”, Friday, December 13, 2024. Opponent: Professor Christophe Courtin, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven.