28th INFOGEST Viva Webinar - Marina Eichhorn - Functionality of Maillard conjugates

28th INFOGEST Viva Webinar on Food Digestion
Wednesday 10/12/2025
These webinars are hosted by Teagasc and INFOGEST on the first Wednesday of each month.

Title: Impact of pectin characteristics on Maillard conjugate formation and their functionality in dispersed systems

Marina conducted her PhD research in Department of Food Technology and Food Material Science in Technische Universität Berlin, in collaboration with Symrise AG, supervised by Prof. Dr. Stephan Drusch. Her research expertise in food technology, focusing on protein–polysaccharide interactions, Maillard conjugation, plant protein functionality, encapsulation technologies, and in vitro digestion of plant-based ingredients.

Reference work:
Eichhorn, M., Thorenz E., Drusch, S. (2025). Behaviour of potato protein-pectin conjugates in emulsions: insights from interfacial shear rheology. Food Hydrocolloids, Elsevier, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.202...]

Drusch, S., Eichhorn, M., Heinert, S., Weißbrodt, J., Morales-Medina, R. (2024). Review on the impact of the molecular structure of pectin on the associative phase separation with proteins. Food Hydrocolloids, Elsevier, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.202...]

Eichhorn, M., Sankowski, L. V., Drusch, S., Kastner, H. (2024).Type of pectin affects the functionality of potato protein-pectin conjugates in emulsions. Food Hydrocolloids, Elsevier, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.202...]

Eichhorn, M., Kastner, H., Weissbrodt, J., Drusch, S. (2023). Impact of process conditions and type of protein on conjugate formation with pectin by vacuum drying. Food Hydrocolloids, Elsevier. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.202...]

Eichhorn, M., Drusch, S., & Weissbrodt, J. (2022). Production of protein-carbohydrate conjugates as emulsifiers (Patent No. WO2022122154A1). World Intellectual Property Organization.

Einhorn-Stoll, U., Archut A., Eichhorn M., Kastner H. (2021). Pectin - plant protein systems and their application. Food Hydrocolloids, Elsevier, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.202...]


More information on the international Infogest research network can be found here:
https://infogest.hub.inrae.fr

Organizers: Shannon Gwala, Nan Gai (Nikki), Sara Perez Vila, Ever Hernandez Olivas, Daniela Freitas, Marina Eichhorn, and Raphaela Mantovani.

Thanks to Andre Brodkorb (Teagasc, Ireland) and Didier Dupont (INRAE, France), and also to the Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Centre (Ireland) for supporting this work.