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Sarkar Lab was well-represented at the Summer school on Soft Matter Systems: from fundamentals to Sensory Perception at Cargese, France

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Sarkar Lab was well-represented at the Summer school on Soft Matter Systems: from fundamentals to Sensory Perception at Cargese, France

Sarkar lab was well-represented at the Summer school on Soft Matter Systems: from fundamentals to Sensory Perception (20 Jul-1 Aug 2026) at Cargèse (France) that provided a strong foundation in soft matter physics—encompassing colloids, polymers, gels, and key techniques such as scattering, tribology, and rheometry—while expanding into how these material properties influence sensory experiences, including touch, texture, and flow.

Professor Anwesha Sarkar (PI, Sarkar Lab) presented lecture on "Tribology relevance to oral processing" covering fundamental aspects of tribology including laws, scaling, Stribeck curve, importance of high shear viscosity and giving recent examples on sensory properties related to friction such as smoothness, creaminess, astringency. She also highlighted examples of lubricants from the spinout company MicroLub Ltd., she founded in 2022.

Dr. Ben Kew (NAPIC R&I Fellow) and Dr. Simha Sridharan (Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, UKRI Horizon Europe Guarantee Fund) presented posters on tribology of alternative proteins and machine learning to identify plant protein emulsifiers, respectively. Dr. Ben Kew also led a demonstration including discriminative tests with cakes and preference tests with skin cream, both containing MicroLub technology reducing fats or mineral oils significantly. Relevant papers for the talks can be found here:

Kew B, Sridharan S, Sarkar A (2026). Mouthfeel assessment of alternative proteins: what we know so far? Current Opinion in Food Science. Article No. 101435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2026.101435

Sarkar A. (2024). Oral astringency in plant proteins: An underestimated issue in formulating next-generation plant-based foods. Annual Review of Food Science and Technology. 15 (1), https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-food-072023-034510

Lesme H, Kew B, Bonnet L, Sarkar A, Stellacii F. (2024).Difference in astringency of the main pea protein fractions. Food Hydrocolloids, 149, Art. No.109489 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2023.109489

Pabois O, Dong Y, Kampf N, Lorenz C D, Doutch J, Avila-Sierra A, Ramaioli M, Mu M, Message Y, Liamas E., Tyler A I I, Klein J, Sarkar A. (2024). Self-assembly of sustainable plant protein protofilaments into a hydrogel for ultra-low friction across length scales. Communication Materials. 5, Article No. 158, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-024-00590-5

Kew B, Holmes, M, Liamas E, Ettelaie R, Connell S, Dini D, Sarkar A. (2023).Transforming sustainable plant proteins into high performance lubricating microgels. Nature Communications, 15, Art No. 4743 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40414-7

Liamas E, Connell S, Sarkar A. (2023). Frictional behaviour of plant proteins in soft contacts: unveiling nanoscale mechanisms. Nanoscale Advances, 5, pp. 1102 - 1114 https://doi.org/10.1039/D2NA00696K

Kew B, Holmes M, Stieger M, Sarkar A. 2021. Oral tribology, adsorption and rheology of alternative food proteins (2021). Food Hydrocolloids, 116, Art. No. 106636 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2021.106636

Andablo-Reyes E, Bryant M, Neville A, Hyde TP, Sarkar R, Francis M, Sarkar A. (2020). 3D biomimetic tongue-emulating surfaces for tribological applications. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 12, pp. 49371–49385 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c12925