Akansha Gupta

Akansha Gupta started her PhD with CASS Food Research Centre at Deakin University, Australia in 2022. Her project is on development of novel Plant based Milk Alternative. The aim of her PhD is to develop an approachable and viable option with a composition like cow’s milk and desirable sensorial properties. She hopes that her research will provide practical recommendations to guide the future of plant-based milk alternatives in food and dairy industry.

Before joining her PhD, Akansha completed her master’s in Food Science & Technology from Department of Dairy Science and Food Technology, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, India in the year 2021 where she worked on designing of Pineapple Pomace and Potato Peel Based Biodegradable Films. She is a recipient of Gold Medal in her masters.

She did research on her thesis topic “Evaluating the effect of olive oil on the edible film properties prepared from moth bean starch.” The aim of the project was to develop and evaluate the new sustainable packaging material from food sources, which ultimately helps to combat environmental problems.

Akansha has a Bachelor of Dairy Technology from College of Dairy and Food Science Technology (CDFST) affiliated with Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT), Udaipur, Rajasthan (2013-2017).

She developed keen interest in developing Food products with nutraceutical properties that help combat the malnutrition problem while simultaneously providing medicinal benefits. Hence developed a Dairy-based Nutraceutical product called colostrum fortified lassi (a traditional Indian milk-based dairy beverage) and presented it at the national level competition.

Professional history

Akansha gained insight into food industry in various roles like product development, quality assurance, sensory check etc. during 6 months of training in Schreiber Dynamix dairies” Pvt. Ltd which is Asia’s Largest third-party manufacturing plant, making products for NESTLE, DANON, BRINATINA, PEPSICO and many more. Here she worked on projects like Minimization of product and packaging losses in UHT milk products and Optimization of processing in Cheese section along with product safety standards.

She also has experience of working in Bharat Milk Products Private Ltd. Where she gained experience on research & quality aspect of food and dairy industry. She got expertise in various techniques like FSMS, GMP, SOP’s etc. Here she worked on: –

• Collaborate with R&D for 5+ product recipe formulations to decrease sugar and mineral load by 5%.
• Reducing consumer complaints by 10% by analysing 20+ parameters.

Publication highlights

• Kumar, P., Mahato, D. K., Gupta, A., Pandhi, S., Mishra, S., Barua, S., … & Kamle, M. (2021). Use of essential oils and phytochemicals against the mycotoxins producing fungi for shelf‐life enhancement and food preservation. International Journal of Food Science & Technology.
• Pandhi, S., Arvind & Gupta, A. (2021). Functional dairy foods: The way forward after COVID-19: Ann. Phytomed., Volume10, Special Issue1 (COVID-19): S251-S256. [WHO indexed].

Book chapters

• Shikha, P., Arvind, K., & Gupta, A. (2021). Technological Advancement in Food Additives and Preservatives. Food Chemistry: The Role of Additives, Preservatives and Adulteration, 375-396.
• Sharma, B., Kumar, A., Gupta, A. (2022). Functionality Test Methods for Biodegradable Polymers. Biodegradable Polymer-Based Food Packaging. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5743-7_11

Skills and research area

Product development; Nutrition; Sensory science; Food Waste valorization; Food safety