PO36                         My Program 


Poster Session


Kitchen pot thickens, drop by drop


October 22, 2025 (Wednesday) 6:30


Poster Session / Sweeney Ballroom E+F

(Click on name to view author profile)

  1. Sepahvand, Somayeh (University of Illinois Chicago, Chemical Engineering)
  2. Edano, Louie (University of Illinois Chicago, Chemical Engineering)
  3. Nikolova, Nadia (University of Illinois Chicago, Chemical Engineering)
  4. Sharma, Vivek (University of Illinois Chicago)

(in printed abstract book)
Somayeh Sepahvand, Louie Edano, Nadia Nikolova and Vivek Sharma
Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607


Sepahvand, Somayeh


experimental methods; methods; non-Newtonian fluids; rheometry; techniques


Many food formulations contain sugars and polysaccharides as thickeners that influence flow behavior, stability, processability, texture, and mouthfeel. Interfacial and rheological properties of key ingredients including polysaccharides influence production and processing of various foods, as well as the consumer perception and bioprocessing that begin withe every bite. Typically, chefs, formulators and regular cooks in kitchens judge stickiness, stringiness, spinnability, ropiness, and flowability by dripping a sauce or a mixture from a ladle, stretching a liquid bridge between finger and thumb, or by dispensing from a nozzle/bottle onto a substrate. Stream-wise velocity gradients associated with extensional flows spontaneously arise during these operations associated with dripping, dispensing or stretching liquid bridges. In spite of great advances in quantitative characterization of shear rheology response, elucidating …