Life Cell employs four people at the moment but CEO Aiken and the two founders hope interest worldwide will see the company grow. Innovation Connections - Bush tucker has bright future in Northern Territory catering Karen Sheldon Catering (KSC) has teamed up with researchers from The University of Queensland (UQ) on a project to extend the shelf life of food by using native foods. Based in Darwin, KSC started in 2006 and evolved from Karen Sheldon’s 30-year-old restaurant business. KSC employs 80 staff and is a Registered Training Organisation Vocational Training and Employment Centre and Transition to Work provider. KSC and UQ sought to improve the shelf life and nutritional value of frozen food products by using natural additives and plant extracts to replace artificial preservatives and other chemical additives used to prevent the oxidation of frozen food. The project was made possible by Innovation Connections, an element of the Entrepreneurs’ Programmetotr (the Programme). have gained invaluable knowledge of the nutritional, antimicrobial and antioxidant qualities “We of Kakadu plum and native bush foods, and how best to use these amazing ingredients in the cooking process. Without the support of Innovation Connections, and left to our own devices, this is the type of food science and knowledge we would not have gained.” Sarah Hickey, Director, Karen Sheldon Catering The KSC project was equally as exciting for UQ staff, who determined the superior antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of native plant extracts would be suitable as a replacement for chemical preservatives and additives. commercial potential of Australian native plant foods is due to their potent bioactivity, “The which is a result of their phytochemical composition. The challenge is the retention of these bioactive properties during processing, packaging and storage, when used as functional ingredients.” Yasmina Sultanbawa, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Kakadu in particular, were found to be excellent functional ingredients in frozen food preparations and extended the shelf life by up to 18-24 months, at frozen storage temperatures. Davidson plums have similar qualities. The properties of the Kakadu plum has also been used to improve the shelf life and colour retention of prawns. Martin, Innovation Connections Facilitator, said KSC and UQ were a delight to work with. had a clear understanding from the start on what they wanted to achieve. As such, my “They
Life Cell employs four people at the moment but CEO Aiken and the two founders hope interest worldwide will see the company grow. Innovation Connections - Bush tucker has bright future in Northern Territory catering Karen Sheldon Catering (KSC) has teamed up with researchers from The University of Queensland (UQ) on a project to extend the shelf life of food by using native foods. Based in Darwin, KSC started in 2006 and evolved from Karen Sheldon’s 30-year-old restaurant business. KSC employs 80 staff and is a Registered Training Organisation Vocational Training and Employment Centre and Transition to Work provider. KSC and UQ sought to improve the shelf life and nutritional value of frozen food products by using natural additives and plant extracts to replace artificial preservatives and other chemical additives used to prevent the oxidation of frozen food. The project was made possible by Innovation Connections, an element of the Entrepreneurs’ Programmetotr (the Programme). “We have gained invaluable knowledge of the nutritional, antimicrobial and antioxidant qualities of Kakadu plum and native bush foods, and how best to use these amazing ingredients in the cooking process. Without the support of Innovation Connections, and left to our own devices, this is the type of food science and knowledge we would not have gained.” Sarah Hickey, Director, Karen Sheldon Catering The KSC project was equally as exciting for UQ staff, who determined the superior antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of native plant extracts would be suitable as a replacement for chemical preservatives and additives. “The commercial potential of Australian native plant foods is due to their potent bioactivity, which is a result of their phytochemical composition. The challenge is the retention of these bioactive properties during processing, packaging and storage, when used as functional ingredients.” Yasmina Sultanbawa, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Kakadu in particular, were found to be excellent functional ingredients in frozen food preparations and extended the shelf life by up to 18-24 months, at frozen storage temperatures. Davidson plums have similar qualities. The properties of the Kakadu plum has also been used to improve the shelf life and colour retention of prawns. Martin, Innovation Connections Facilitator, said KSC and UQ were a delight to work with. “They had a clear understanding from the start on what they wanted to achieve. As such, my
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