Dr. Nan Fu

Email: nan.fu@suda.edu.cn

Professor, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University

Dr. Fu has a bachelor degree in biological engineering and two master degrees in Biotechnology and Microbiology, respectively. She completed her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Monash University in Australia. She has since joined Soochow University as an associate professor, and currently a professor with the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.

Her research interest is in functional powder engineering, including the fabrication of bioactive particles and food powders, functionality control, dairy science and technology, droplet drying kinetics, and particle formation mechanisms. She studies the physicochemical and biological changes associated with the drying of complex food droplets composed of multi-phase and multi-components, mainly on the viability retention of probiotics during drying, component migration during composite droplet drying, interfacial phenomena influencing powder functionality, and drying-induced crystallization. 

She has published over 60 papers on international peer-review journals, and she is the first or corresponding author for over 30 of them. She published a book “Frontiers in Spray Drying” (CRC Press, 2020), and authored 1 book chapter in “Advances in Food and Nutrition Research” series. She presented her work in over 50 international and domestic conferences, including 6 invited talk in universities. In 2015, she was awarded the runner-up prize for Elsevier Woman in Chemical Engineering Award. In 2018, she was selected for the China-Australia Young Scientist Exchange Program. 

She is the chair investigator of a Jiangsu Agriculture Science and Technology Innovation Fund, a Youth program from the Natural Science Foundation of China, a Youth program from the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province and others. She participates in two National Key Research and Development Program of China as a key investigator. She is an associate editor of International Journal of Food Engineering and a guest editor of Powder Technology. She is a member of the Youth Council and a committee member of the Bioparticles Professional Committee in the Chinese Society of Particuology; a member of the Youth Committee of the Chinese Association of Animal Products Processing; and a committee member of the Package and Food Engineering Committee in the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society.    

Selected publications:

Book:

1. Fu, N., Xiao, J., Woo, M. W., Chen, X.D. (2020) Frontiers in Spray Drying. Boca Raton: CRC Press. ISBN: 9781138364738. https://www.routledge.com/Frontiers-in-Spray-Drying/Fu-Xiao-Woo-Chen/p/book/9781138364738

Book chapter：

1. Fu, N.*, Huang, S., Xiao, J., Chen, X.D. (2018) Producing Powders Containing Active Dry Probiotics With the Aid of Spray Drying. in Toldrá, F. (ed.) Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, Volume 85, Page 211-262, Academic Press, ISSN 1043-4526. DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.afnr.2018.02.003

Journal publications：

2020

1. Suo, X., Huang, S., Wang, J., Fu, N.*, Jeantet, R., Chen, X.D.* (2020) Effect of culturing lactic acid bacteria with varying skim milk concentration on bacteria survival during heat treatment. Journal of Food Engineering, 110396.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2020.110396

2. Su, Y., Fu, N.*, Xiao, J., Chen, X.D.* (2020) Vaporization and particle formation during drying of multisolvent droplet without and with antisolvent-vapor infusion. Chemical Engineering Science, 219: 115617.

3. Wang, Y., Hao, F., Lu, W., Suo, X., Bellenger, E., Fu, N.*, Jeantet, R., Chen, X.D., (2020) Enhanced thermal stability of lactic acid bacteria during spray drying by intracellular accumulation of calcium. Journal of Food Engineering, 279: 109975.

4. Zhang, C., Quek, S.-Y.*, Fu, N.*, Su, Y., Kilmartin, P. A., Chen, X. D. (2020) Storage stability and in vitro digestion of microencapsulated powder containing fermented noni juice and probiotics. Food Bioscience, 37: 100740.

5. Fu, N.*, You, Y.-J., Quek, S.-Y.*, Wu, W.D., Chen, X.D. (2020) Interplaying effects of wall and core materials on the property and functionality of microparticles for co-encapsulation of vitamin E with coenzyme Q₁₀. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 13(4): 705-721.

6. Kuljarachanan, T., Fu, N.*, Chiewchan, N.*, Devahastin, S., Chen, X.D.*, (2020) Evolution of important glucosinolates in three common Brassica vegetables during their processing into vegetable powder and in vitro gastric digestion. Food & Function, 11: 211-220.

2019

7. Zhang, C., Quek, S.-Y.*, Fu, N.*, Liu, B., Kilmartin, P.A., Chen, X.D. (2019) A study on the structure formation and properties of noni juice microencapsulated with maltodextrin and gum acacia using single droplet drying. Food Hydrocolloids, 88: 199-209.

8. Zhang, C., Fu, N.*, Quek, S.-Y.*, Zhang, J., Chen, X. D. (2019) Exploring the drying behaviors of microencapsulated noni juice using reaction engineering approach (REA) mathematical modelling. Journal of Food Engineering, 248: 53-61.

9. Huang, E., Quek, S.-Y.*, Fu, N.*, Wu, W.D., Chen, X.D. (2019) Co-encapsulation of coenzyme Q10 and vitamin E: A study of microcapsule formation and its relation to structure and functionalities using single droplet drying and micro-fluidic-jet spray drying. Journal of Food Engineering, 247: 45-55.

10. Su, Y., Zheng, X., Zhao, Q., Fu, N.*, Xiong, H., Wu, W.D.*, Chen, X.D. (2019) Spray drying of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG with calcium-containing protectant for enhanced viability. Powder Technology, 358: 87-94.

11. Fu, N.*, Yu, M., Chen, X.D.*, (2019) A differential shrinkage approach for evaluating particle formation behavior during drying of sucrose, lactose, mannitol, skim milk and other solid-containing droplets. Drying Technology, 37(8): 941-949.

2018

12. Har, C.L., Fu, N.*, Chan, E.S., Tey, B.T., Chen, X.D.*, (2018) In situ crystallization kinetics and behavior of mannitol during droplet drying, Chemical Engineering Journal, 63(6): 1839-1852.

13. Liu, B., Fu, N.*, Woo, M.W., Chen, X.D.*, (2018) Heat stability of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and its cellular membrane during droplet drying and heat treatment. Food Research International, 112: 56-65. 

14. Pongmalai, P., Fu, N.*, Soponronnarit, S., Chiewhan, N., Devahastin, S.*, Chen, X.D., (2018) Microwave pretreatment enhances the formation of cabbage sulforaphane and its bioaccessibility as shown by a novel dynamic soft rat stomach model. Journal of Functional Foods, 43:186-195.

15. 傅楠*, 陈晓东*, (2018) 益生菌在喷雾干燥过程中的活性变化与保护策略. 化工进展, 37(5): 1633-1645.

2017及以前

16. Fu, N.*, Wu, W.D.*, Wu, Z., Moo, F.T., Woo, M.W., Selomulya, C., Chen, X.D., (2017) Formation process of core-shell microparticles by solute migration during drying of homogenous composite droplets. AIChE Journal, 63(8): 3297-3310.

17. Har, C.L., Fu, N.*, Chan, E.S.*, Tey, B.T., Chen, X.D., (2017) Unraveling the droplet drying characteristics of crystallization-prone mannitol – experiments and modeling. AIChE Journal, 63(6): 1839-1852.

18. Zheng, X., Fu, N.*, Huang, S., Jeantet, R., Chen, X.D.*, (2016) Exploring the protective effects of calcium-containing carrier against drying-induced cellular injuries of probiotics using single droplet drying technique. Food Research International, 90: 226-234.

19. Zheng, X., Fu, N.*, Duan, M., Woo, M.W., Selomulya, C., Chen, X.D.*, (2015) The mechanisms of the protective effects of reconstituted skim milk during convective droplet drying of lactic acid bacteria. Food Research International, 76: 478-488.

20. Lallbeeharry, P., Tian, Y., Fu, N.*, Wu, W.D.*, Woo, M.W., Selomulya, C., Chen, X.D., (2014) Effects of ionic and nonionic surfactants on milk shell wettability during co-spray-drying of whole milk particles. Journal of Dairy Science, 97(9): 5303-5314.

21. Tian, Y., Fu, N.*, Wu, W.D.*, Zhu, D., Huang, J., Yun, S., Chen, X.D., (2014) Effects of co-spray drying of surfactants with high solids milk on milk powder wettability. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 7(11): 3121-3135.

22. Fu, N.*, Woo, M.W., Selomulya, C., Chen, X.D.*, (2013) Inactivation of Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris cells in a droplet during convective drying.  Biochemical Engineering Journal, 79: 46-56.

23. Fu, N., Woo, M.W., Chen, X.D.*, (2011) Colloidal transport phenomena of milk components during convective droplet drying. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 87(2): 255-266.

24. Fu, N.,Chen, X.D.*, (2011) Towards a maximal cell survival in convective thermal drying processes. Food Research International, 44(5): 1127-1149.

25. Fu, N., Woo, M.W., Lin, S.X.Q., Zhou, Z., Chen, X.D.*, (2011) Reaction Engineering Approach (REA) to model the drying kinetics with different initial sizes – experiments and analyses. Chemical Engineering Science, 66(8): 1738-1747.