Acquisition of a scanning electron microscope for research on the microstructure of agro-industry raw materials, agro-industry products, and biomaterials

Abstract

This FAPESP Multi-User Equipment Program request is bolstered by 3 associated projects and 14 complementary projects, all multi-institutional projects, involving research teams at the USP School of Animal Science and Food Engineering, the UNESP, Institute of Biosciences, Literature, and Exact Sciences at São José do Rio Preto, and the USP Ribeirão Preto School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The objective is to acquire a tabletop scanning electron microscope (SEM), which has low-vacuum, variablepressure operation and therefore does not require a sputter coater. This SEM will be set up in a laboratory on the USP Campus of Pirassununga, which lies between São José do Rio Preto and Ribeirão Preto. An SEM is one of the principal devices for the study of the microstructure of foodstuffs, biopolymers, biomaterials and conventional materials. Particularly in foodstuffs, microstructure is understood as the spatial arrangement of identifiable elements and of their interactions, at scales below 100 µm. The typical microstructural elements in foodstuffs include cells, starch granules, proteins, water droplets, oil globules, lipid crystals, and gas bubbles. Some of these elements can be observed in biomaterials, edible films and microencapsulated products, being directly related to their physical properties. Although this will be the first SEM on the Pirassununga Campus of USP, some members of the team have experience with this type of microscopy, as well as having published various articles based on results obtained with equipment located in other cities. This SEM will be employed in studying the microstructure of beef, fish, milk (fresh or powdered), microencapsulated and nanoencapsulated products, dehydrated vegetable extracts, starch, vegetable tissues, biodegradable films, membranes, cement products and material for the treatment of residues (biofilms). One associated project and various complementary projects did not presuppose microstructural analyses. Therefore, the acquisition of the SEM will make it possible to obtain new data, which could lead to new pproaches, consequently having a quite positive impact on the publication of articles in international journals. In the case of the other projects, these analyses could be made with greater frequency and at a lower cost. Making the SEM available to the professors will allow them to make observations that are more detailed and to have access to results other than those furnished by the technicians running the equipment. (AU)