Richard Hartel, professor of food science, received USDA-NIFA funding for his project Partnership: Development of novel protein-fortified thickened fluids optimized for swallowing biomechanics through AFRI’s Foundational and Applied Science Program. It was among 24 projects sharing $11.3 million in funding.

Project summary (from CRIS site): Patients with dysphagia frequently reduce and/or alter dietary intake, leading to malnutrition and dehydration. This may result in low protein consumption, which is critical for maintenance of muscle function and prevention of frailty in older adults. Since dysphagics are often prescribed thickened fluids to minimize aspiration into the lungs, the focus of this project is to develop thickened fluids with added proteins. This poses a major challenge, however, since the thickening agents typically do not interact well with proteins, leading to separation of the fluid into different phases, an unappealing result. Through careful selection of hydrolyzed proteins and thickeners, protein-fortified thickened fluids will be developed for further evaluation. Specifically, these protein-fortified thickened fluids will be evaluated for their rheological properties and in swallowing biomechanics studies. Finally, computational modeling will be used to predict how fluids behave in the mouth during swallowing.