Dipendra Kumar Mahato

PhD Candidate

Dipendra is a PhD student within CASS Food Research Centre at Deakin University, Australia. He has a Master-degree in Food Science and Technology and a Bachelor-degree in Biotechnology.

Dipendra started his PhD with CASS Food Research Centre at Deakin University, Australia in 2018. His project is on sugar reduction in chocolate flavoured milk.

Before joining his PhD, Dipendra worked in different research projects at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New-Delhi and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India. At IARI, he worked on the microencapsulation of anthocyanin and beta-carotene from black carrot and bitter gourd juice. At IIT, he worked on two projects (i) “Microencapsulation of a synergistic blend of sunflower and sesame oil into oil powder and its use in the formulation of frozen dessert mix” and (ii) “Design and development of iron-fortified rice using extrusion technology”.

Dipendra’s PhD investigates on the possible ways for sugar reduction in dairy foods taking chocolate milk as a “model product”. The study is focused on the impact of sugar reduction on the sensory perception, physicochemical properties as well as the microbiological safety of the product. The study aims to reduce at least 50% of added sugar without much impact on consumer acceptance. The ultimate target is to improve the diet and health of the population through the consumption of low sugar foods.

Research areas and skills

Food Science; Product Development, Sensory Science; Microbiology; Biotechnology.

Publications highlights

  • DK Mahato, P Oliver, DG Liem,  CG Russell, M Mohebbi, S Cicerale, MC Mahmud, & S Gamlath (2021). Identifying ideal product composition of chocolate-flavored milk using preference mapping. Journal of Food Science, pp. 1-14.
    DK Mahato, R Keast, DG Liem, CG Russell, S Cicerale, S Gamlath (2020). Optimization of natural sweeteners for sugar reduction in chocolate flavored milk and their impact on sensory attributes. International Dairy Technology. Accepted.
  • DK Mahato, R Keast, DG Liem, CG Russell, S Cicerale, S Gamlath (2020). Sugar Reduction in Dairy Food: An Overview with Flavoured Milk as an Example. Foods, 9(10), 1400.M Ghosh, R Upadhyay, DK Mahato, HN Mishra (2019). Kinetics of lipid oxidation in omega fatty acids rich blends of sunflower and sesame oils using Rancimat. Food Chemistry, 272, 471-477.
  • S Devi, DK Mahato, S Singh, SP Singh (2019). Optimization of Process Variables for Retention of Functional Properties of Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia L.) and its Shelf-Life Extension. Current Agriculture Research Journal, 7(1), 74-89.
  • M Ghosh, R Upadhyay, DK Mahato, HN Mishra (2019). Thermal and oxidative stability assessment of synergistic blends of sunflower and sesame oils tailored for nutritionally stable composition of omega fatty acids. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 135(4), 2389-2398.