Leqi Cui, Ph.D.

Interests

My research focuses on developing healthy foods with improved stability. For this purpose, I use interdisciplinary approaches from food chemistry, food biochemistry and nanotechnology to study

1. lipid oxidation mechanisms and antioxidant strategies,
2. protein structure-function relationships, and
3. bioaccessibility and bioavailability of bioactive compounds. Typical food models used in my lab include vegetable oils, emulsions, protein isolates and fruits and vegetables.

Education

• B.A. Northwest A&F University (China)
• Ph.D. University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Postdoctoral researcher North Dakota State University

Publications and Other Scholarly Activities

For a full list please see my Google Scholar 

Cui, L., Kimmel, J., Zhou, L., Rao, J., & Chen, B. (2020). Combining solid dispersion-based spray drying with cyclodextrin to improve the functionality and mitigate the beany odor of pea protein isolate. Carbohydrate Polymers, 116546.

Cui, L., Bandillo, N., Wang, Y., Ohm, J. B., Chen, B., & Rao, J. (2020). Functionality and structure of yellow pea protein isolate as affected by cultivars and extraction pH. Food Hydrocolloids, 106008.

Cui, L.; Shen, P.; Gao, Z.; Yi, J.; Chen, B. (2019). New insights into the impact of sodium chloride on the lipid oxidation of oil-in-water emulsions. Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry, 67: 4321–4327

Cui, L.; Cho, H. T.; McClements, D. J.; Decker, E. A.; Park, Y. (2016). Effects of salts on oxidative stability of lipids in Tween-20 stabilized oil-in-water emulsions. Food Chemistry, 197, Part B, 1130-1135

Cui, L.; McClements, D. J.; Decker, E. A. (2015). Impact of phosphatidylethanolamine on the antioxidant activity of α-tocopherol and trolox in bulk oil. Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry, 63, 3288-3294