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School of Biosciences, Division of
Food Sciences
   
   
  
 

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Tim Foster

Associate Professor and Reader in Food Structure, Faculty of Science

Contact

  • workRoom A20 Food Sciences
    Sutton Bonington Campus
    Sutton Bonington
    Leicestershire
    LE12 5RD
    UK
  • work0115 951 6246

Biography

I am married with one 17 year old son. My Interests include playing and also coaching sport (ECB Level 1 Coach), cooking & enjoying family life.

Expertise Summary

During his time in Unilever Tim lead the Biopolymers research group (1996-2003), the Product Microstructure group in Vlaardingen (2002) and the department of Delivery of Actives (2003-2005), was a New Technology project leader (1998-2003) and served on the Colworth Management Group (2002), Vlaardingen Food Management Team (2002), the Food Research Centre Science Team (2003-2005) and co-chaired the Unilever Food and Health Research Institute Research Strategy Group (2005-2007). He departed Unilever in 2007 when in the role of Senior Scientist Food Structural Design.

Teaching Summary

Module convenor of 'Fundamentals of Hydrocolloid Technology', 'Food Factory Operations', 'Food and Factory Design' and 'Food and Factory Design and Operations' involves coordination of industrial… read more

Research Summary

Expertise in microstructure design through understanding the interplay between ingredients and process, so that the final microstructure is stable / functional in storage, in-use, in-digestion...

This requires an in-depth knowledge of ingredient structure-functionality, how ingredients mix for optimal performance and how such mixtures are influenced in typical production process environments.

Such an understanding then allows design rules for ingredient interchangeability, ingredient improvement and novel functionalities.

Since joining the University in 2007 one post doc and 11 post graduate researchers funded by the University, Regional Development Agency, EU and Industry have helped make progress in structure functionality of polysaccharides such as xanthan and cellulose. Patent opportunities have been established and are currently under exploitation, with one innovation winning the IChemE Award for Innovation and Excellence in the Food and Drink area in 2009. Collaboration with a number of Universities around Europe have helped build a presence in novel structuring routes with cellulose. Additional collaboration with Loughborough University has developed a technology for controlling body hydration through food structuring technologies.

Tim currently sits on the University of Nottingham Global Food Security steering group, as champion for waste management; the School of Biosciences Research Strategy Group and the Knowledge Transfer and Outreach group; is on the steering committee for the promotion of the Food and Bioenergy Innovation Centre.

Tim represents the University as a Trustee and Director of the Food Hydrocolloids Trust and a committee member of the Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry biennial conference, is an Executive Board member of the European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence Business and Industry Club, and CSA, and is external examiner to Greenwich University.

Tim sits on the Editorial Boards of' Food Hydrocolloids' and' Food Digestion', and is a newly appointed Associate Editor of 'Food and Function'.

Recent Publications

  • MARCIANI L, HALL N, PRITCHARD SE, COX EF, TOTMAN JJ, LAD M, HOAD CJ, FOSTER TJ, GOWLAND PA and SPILLER RC, 2012. Preventing gastric sieving by blending a solid/water meal enhances satiation in healthy humans The Journal of Nutrition. (In Press.)
  • A SULLO, Y WANG, JR MITCHELL, A KOSHELLA, T HEINZE and TJ FOSTER, 2012. New regioselective substituted cellulose ethers: A thermo-rheological study In: Gums and Stabilisres for the Food Industry 16. 45-58
  • F HAJJI, JR MITCHELL and TJ FOSTER, 2012. Relationship between the conformational structure and processability of hydrocolloids In: Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 16. 67-76
  • TJ FOSTER and JR MITCHELL, 2012. Physical modification of xanthan gum In: Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 16. 77-88

Module convenor of 'Fundamentals of Hydrocolloid Technology', 'Food Factory Operations', 'Food and Factory Design' and 'Food and Factory Design and Operations' involves coordination of industrial specialist lectures and also includes an 8 weeks New Product Development exercise.

Past Research

Post graduate work in structure-functionality of xanthan gum, and structuring with plant cell wall materials provided a springboard for group leadership of the Unilever Biopolymers group, contributing to developments in ice cream, spreads and cream products (10 granted patents). Project leadership, Science area leadership and Department Director roles lead to a final role of Senior Scientist for food structuring in Unilever, responsible for coordinating TIFN projects, ETP Food for Life strategic research agenda development and initiating Unilever's contribution to BBSRC's DRINC.

Future Research

Recent interest is in the areas of natural structuring agents, rehydration phenomena, microstructure changes in physiological environments and targeted / controlled release.

  • MARCIANI L, HALL N, PRITCHARD SE, COX EF, TOTMAN JJ, LAD M, HOAD CJ, FOSTER TJ, GOWLAND PA and SPILLER RC, 2012. Preventing gastric sieving by blending a solid/water meal enhances satiation in healthy humans The Journal of Nutrition. (In Press.)
  • A SULLO, Y WANG, JR MITCHELL, A KOSHELLA, T HEINZE and TJ FOSTER, 2012. New regioselective substituted cellulose ethers: A thermo-rheological study In: Gums and Stabilisres for the Food Industry 16. 45-58
  • F HAJJI, JR MITCHELL and TJ FOSTER, 2012. Relationship between the conformational structure and processability of hydrocolloids In: Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 16. 67-76
  • TJ FOSTER and JR MITCHELL, 2012. Physical modification of xanthan gum In: Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 16. 77-88
  • AH ABBASZADEH and TJ FOSTER, 2012. The effect of polymer fine structure on synergistic interactions of xanthan with konjacglucomannan In: Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 16. 151-164
  • R ABSON, B WOLF, S HILL and TJ FOSTER, 2012. Contributions of the particulates and soluble materials to the viscosity behaviour of tomato puree In: 351-357
  • FOSTER TJ AND WOLF B, 2011. Hydrocolloid gums – Their role and interactions in foods. In: I.T. NORTON, F. SPYROPOULOS AND P. COX, ed., Practical Food Rheology – An Interpretive Approach Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 61-84
  • FOSTER TJ, 2011. Natural Structuring with cell wall materials Food Hydrocolloids. 25(8), 1828-1832
  • KOGANTI N, MITCHELL JR, IBBETT R AND FOSTER TJ, 2011. Solvent effects on starch dissolution and gelatinisation Biomacromolecules. 12(8), 2888-2893
  • AGUIRRE-ALVAREZ, G, PIMENTEL-GONZALEZ, D. J., CAMPOS-MONTIEL, R. G., FOSTER, T. and HILL, S.E., 2011. The effect of drying temperature on mechanical properties of pig skin gelatin films CYTA-JOURNAL OF FOOD. 9(3), 243-249
  • FOSTER TJ, 2010. Technofunctionality of hydrocolloids and their impact on food structure In: Gums and stabilisers for the Food Industry 15. 103-112
  • SULLO A AND FOSTER TJ, 2010. Characterisation of Starch/Cellulose blends Annual Transaction of the Nordic Rheology Society. Vol 18,
  • FOSTER TJ, MITCHELL JR AND LAD M, 2010. Xanthan gum and Swellable Particulate Containing Composition WO2010/122332 A3 01/01/1900 00:00:00
  • PERSIN Z, STANA-KLEINSCHEK K, FOSTER TJ, VAN DAM JEG, BOERIU CG AND NAVARD P, 2010. Challenges and opportunities in polysaccharides research and technology: The EPNOE views for the next decade in the areas of materials, food and health care Carbohydrate Polymers. 84(1), 22-32
  • SUN S, MITCHELL JR, MACNAUGHTAN W, FOSTER TJ, HARABAGIU V, SONG Y AND ZHENG Q, 2010. Comparison of the Mechanical Properties of Cellulose and Starch Films Biomacromolecules. 11, 126-132 (In Press.)
  • LAD MD, SAMANCI S, MITCHELL JR AND FOSTER TJ, 2010. Viscosity development during competitive hydration of starch and hydrocolloids In: Gums and stabilisers for the Food Industry 15. 126-136
  • PAES SS, SUN S, MACNAUGHTAN, IBBETT R, GANSTER J, FOSTER TJ AND MITCHELL JR, 2010. The glass transition and crystallization of ball milled cellulose Cellulose. 17(4), 693-709
  • BLANCO-GOMEZ G, GLIDLE A, COOPER JM, FLENDRIG LM AND FOSTER TJ, 2009. In: Proceedings of the 1st European Conference on Microfluidics.
  • FOSTER TJ AND NORTON IT, 2009. Self-assembling structures in the Gastrointestinal Tract. In: D.J. MCCLEMENTS AND E.A. DECKER, ed., Designing Functional Foods; Measuring and controlling food structure breakdown and nutrient absorption Woodhead Publishing Ltd. 601-622
  • A. G. F. STAPLEY, C. HIMAWAN, W. MACNAUGHTAN AND T. J. FOSTER, 2009. A Computational Method for Extracting Crystallization Growth and Nucleation Rate Data from Hot Stage Microscope Images Crystal Growth and Design. 9(12), 5061-5068
  • SUN S, FOSTER TJ, MACNAUGHTON W, MITCHELL JR, FENN D, KOSCHELLA A AND HEINZE T, 2009. Self-Association of Cellulose Ethers with Random and Regioselective Distribution of Substitution J Polym Sci Part B – Polymer Phys. 47(18), 1743-1752
  • DONG Y and FOSTER TJ, MITCHELL,J. AND WOLF,B, 2008. A rheological study to analyse the mixed gelation of a protein with a polysaccharide with the use of a cross-linker In: Annual Transactions of the Nordic Society of Rheology.
  • HORNEFFER, V, FOSTER, TJ and VELIKOV, KP, 2007. Fast characterization of industrial soy protein isolates by direct analysis with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass Spectrometry JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY. 55, 10505-10508
  • FOSTER T, 2007. Structure Design in the Food Industry. In: BROCKEL U, MEIER W AND WAGNER G, ed., Product Design and Engineering Volume 2: Raw Materials, Additives and Applications Wiley-VCH. 617-629 (In Press.)
  • FOSTER TJ, RUSSELL A, FARRER D, GOLDING M, FINLAYSON R, THOMAS, A, JARVIS D AND PELAN E, 2007. Instant Emulsions. In: DICKINSON E AND LESER M, ed., Food Colloids: Self-Assembly and Material Science RSC. 413-423 (In Press.)
  • WILLIAMS, M.A.K., FOSTER, T.J. and SCHOLS, H.A., 2003. Elucidation of pectin methylester distributions by capillary electrophoresis Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 51(7), 1777-1781
  • BLINDT RA, CLARK AH, ELLIOTT B, FOSTER TJ AND NORTON IT, 2003. Method for preparing gelled food product US20040241305A1 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • LUNDIN L, WILLIAMS MAK AND FOSTER TJ, 2003. Phase Separation in Foods. In: MCKENNA BM, ed., Texture in Food Volume1: Semi-solid Foods Woodhead Publishing. 63-86 (In Press.)
  • ZHANG, H., NISHINARI, K., WILLIAMS, M.A.K., FOSTER , T.J. and NORTON, I.T., 2002. A molecular description of the gelation mechanism of curdlan International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. 30(1), 7-16
  • MORRIS G. A and FOSTER T. J. AND HARDING S. E., 2002. A hydrodynamic study of the depolymerisation of a high methoxy pectin at elevated temperatures Carbohydrate Polymers. 48(4), 361-367 (In Press.)
  • FRITH WJ, GARIJO X, FOSTER TJ AND NORTON IT, 2002. Microstructural origins of the rheology of fluid gels. In: WILLIAMS PA AND PHILLIPS GO, ed., Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 11 RSC. 95-103 (In Press.)
  • WILLIAMS, MARTIN A K, BUFFET, GAËLLE M C and FOSTER, TIM J, 2002. Analysis of partially methyl-esterified galacturonic acid oligomers by capillary electrophoresis. Analytical Biochemistry. 301(1), 117-22
  • WILLIAMS MAK, BUFFET GMC AND FOSTER TJ, 2002. Capillary electrophoresis as a tool for the characterisation of pectin fine structure. In: WILLIAMS PA AND PHILLIPS GO, ed., Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 11 RSC. 13-26 (In Press.)
  • BARTKOWSKA B, FOSTER TJ, GRAY SJ, REGISMOND, STA AND UNDERDOWN J, 2002. Fruit Stuctured Ice Cream FR2802775A1 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • BOT A, FOSTER TJ, LUNDIN LO, PELAN BMC AND REIFFERS-MAGNANI CK, 2002. Spoonable water-continuous acidified food product EP1494544A1 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • NORTON IT AND FOSTER TJ, 2002. Hydrocolloids in real food systems. In: WILLIAMS GA AND PHILLIPS GO, ed., Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 11 RSC. 187-200 (In Press.)
  • AYMARD, P, MARTIN, D R, PLUCKNETT, K, FOSTER, T J, CLARK, A H and NORTON, I T, 2001. Influence of thermal history on the structural and mechanical properties of agarose gels. Biopolymers. 59(3), 131-44
  • WILLIAMS, M.A.K., FABRI, D., HUBBARD, C.D., LUNDIN, L., FOSTER T.J., CLARK, A.H., NORTON, I.T., LORÉN, N. and HERMANSSON, A-M., 2001. Kinetics of droplet growth in gelatin/maltodextrin mixtures following thermal quenching Langmuir. 17(11), 3412-3418
  • ZHANG H, NISHINARI K, FOSTER TJ, WILLIAMS MAK AND NORTON IT, 2001. A study of the gelation of the polysaccharide Curdlan Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis. 132, 65-68
  • ECKHARDT G, FINLAYSON RM, FOSTER TJ, RUSSELL AL AND WILLIAMS MAK, 2001. Multicomponent device for preparing an emulsion EP1456097B1 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • BOT A, FOSTER TJ, LUNDIN LO, PELAN BMC AND REIFFERS-MAGNANI CK, 2001. Water continuous acidified food product EP1446018A1 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • BUFFET GMC AND FOSTER TJ, 2001. Oil in water emulsions comprising a blend of biopolymers EP1455589A1 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • WILLIAMS, M A, BUFFET, G M, FOSTER, T J and NORTON, I T, 2001. Simulation of endo-PG digest patterns and implications for the determination of pectin fine structure. Carbohydrate Research. 334(3), 243-50
  • ECKHARDT G, FINLAYSON RM, FOSTER TJ AND PELAN EG, 2001. Kit for preparing a spread EP1458244A1 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • LOREN N, HERMANSSON AM, WILLIAMS MAK, LUNDIN L, FOSTER TJ, HUBBARD CD, CLARK AH, NORTON IT, BERGSTRON E AND GOODALL D, 2001. Phase separation induced by conformational ordering of gelatin in gelatin/maltodextrin mixtures Macromol.. 34(2), 289-297 (In Press.)
  • ZHANG, H, YOSHIMURA, M, NISHINARI, K, WILLIAMS, M A, FOSTER, T J and NORTON, I T, 2001. Gelation behaviour of konjac glucomannan with different molecular weights. Biopolymers. 59(1), 38-50
  • FOSTER TJ, BROWN CRT, FRITH WJ AND NORTON IT, 2001. Textural and Functional properties of Fluid Gels. In: BERK Z, LESLIE, RB LILLFORD PJ, MIZRAHI S, ed., Water Science for Food, Health, Agriculture and Environment: ISOPOW 8 Technomic Publishing Co. Inc, Lancaster / Basel. 87-97 (In Press.)
  • MORRIS, G. A and FOSTER, T. J. AND HARDING, S. E., 2000. The effect of the degree of esterification on the hydrodynamic properties of citrus pectin Food Hydrocolloids. 14(3), 227-235
  • COOKE D, FOSTER TJ, GALEMA SA, LEDEBOER AM AND SANDERS JW, 2000. In-situ dextran production EP1180329B1 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • WILLIAMS, M A, FOSTER, T J, MARTIN, D R, NORTON, I T, YOSHIMURA, M and NISHINARI, K, 2000. A molecular description of the gelation mechanism of konjac mannan. Biomacromolecules. 1(3), 440-50
  • FARRER DB, FINLAYSON RM, FOSTER TJ, PELAN EG, RUSSELL AL AND THOMAS A, 2000. Instant emulsion WO2003053149A1 01/01/1900 00:00:00
  • LUNDIN L, NORTON IT, FOSTER TJ, WILLIAMS MAK, HERMANSSON A-M AND BERGSTROM E, 2000. Phase separation in mixed biopolymer systems. In: WILLIAMS PA AND PHILLIPS GO, ed., Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 10 RSC. 167-180 (In Press.)
  • COOTE, E, FARRER DB, FINLAYSON RM, FOSTER TJ AND RUSSELL AL, 2000. Composition suitable for preparing and oil in water emulsion EP1294234A1 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • DANIEL AM, FOSTER TJ, LUNDIN LO, NORTON IT AND SUTTON R, 2000. Maras type ice cream GB2357954A 01/01/1900 00:00:00 (In Press.)
  • MORRIS, G. A, BUTLER, S. N. G, FOSTER, T. J and JUMEL, K. AND HARDING, S. E., 1999. Elevated-Temperature Analytical Ultracentrifugation on a Low-Methoxy Polyuronide Progress Colloid and Polymer Science: Analytical Ultracentrifugation V. 113, 205-208
  • YOSHIMURA M, FOSTER TJ, NORTON I AND NISHINARI K, 1999. Rheological study and a phase diagram on mixture of corn starch and konjac glucomannan. In: NISHINARI K, ed., Hydrocolloids part 2 – Fundamentals and Applications in Food, Biology and Medicine Elsivier. 197-202
  • LUNDIN LO, ODIC K AND FOSTER TJ, 1999. Phase Separation in Mixed Carrageenan Systems. In: Proceedings to Supermolecular and Colloidal Structures in Biomaterials and Biosubstrates (In Press.)
  • NORTON, I T, JARVIS, D A and FOSTER, T J, 1999. A molecular model for the formation and properties of fluid gels. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. 26(4), 255-61
  • NORTON IT, JARVIS DA AND FOSTER TJ, 1999. A molecular model for the formation and properties of fluid gels Int. J. Biol. Macromol.. 26(4), 255-261
  • NORTON IT, SMITH CG, FRITH WJ, FOSTER TJ AND BROWN CRT, 1999. The production, properties and utilisation of fluid gels. In: NISHINARI K, ed., Hydrocolloids part 2 – Fundamentals and Applications in Food, Biology and Medicine Elsivier. 219-227
  • RICHARDSON PH, WILLMER J AND FOSTER TJ, 1998. Dilute solution properties of guar and locust bean gum in sucrose solutions Food Hydrocoll.. 12(3), 339-348
  • NORTON IT, FOSTER TJ AND BROWN CRT, 1998. The Science and Technology of Fluid Gels. In: WILLIAMS PA AND PHILLIPS GO, ed., Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 9 259-268
  • FOSTER TJ, UNDERDOWN J, BROWN CRT, FERDINANDO DP AND NORTON IT, 1997. Emulsion behaviour of Non-Gelled Biopolymer Mixtures. In: DICKINSON E AND BERGENSTAHL B, ed., Food Colloids: Proteins, Lipids and Polysaccharides RSC. 346-356
  • FOSTER TJ, BROWN CRT, NORTON IT, 1996. Phase inversion of water-in-water emulsions. In: WIULLIAMS PA AND PHILLIPS GO, ed., Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 8 Oxford University Press. 297-306
  • FOSTER TJ, GRANT ER, KIMSEY IM, NORTON IT AND UNDERDOWN J, 1996. Stable coconut cream alternative WO9819553A1 01/01/1900 00:00:00
  • FOSTER TJ, ABLETT S, MCCANN MC AND GIDLEY MJ, 1996. Mobility-resolved C-13-NMR spectroscopy of primary cell walls Biopolym.. 39(1), 51-66
  • BROWN CRT, FOSTER TJ, NORTON IT, 1995. Influence of shear on the microstructure of mixed biopolymer systems. In: HILL SE, HARDING S AND MITCHEL JR, ed., Biopolymer Mixtures Nottingham University Press. 65-83
  • MORRIS ER AND FOSTER TJ, 1994. Role of conformation in synergistic interactions of xanthan Carbohyd. Polym.. 23(2), 133-135
  • FOSTER TJ AND MORRIS ER, 1994. Xanthan Polytetramer – Conformational Stability as a Barrier to Synergistic Interaction. In: WILLIAMS PA AND PHILLIPS GO, ed., Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 7 Oxford University press. 281-289
  • GOYCOOLEA FM, FOSTER TJ, RICHARDSON RK, GIDLEY MJ AND MORRIS ER, 1994. Synergistic Gelation of Galactomannans or Konjac Glucomannan – Binding or Exclusion. In: WILLIAMS PA AND PHILLIPS GO, ed., Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 7 Oxford University Press. 333-344

Division of Food Sciences

University of Nottingham
Sutton Bonington Campus
Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5RD

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 6141
email: lynne.moseley@nottingham.ac.uk