The Deputy Vice-Chancellor's Travel Award

The newly established DVC Travel Award allows researchers to study or do research in an international university where their associate supervisor is also based.

Phoebe Li, in the second year of her PhD in food technology was awarded this grant to continue her research at Swinburne Melbourne. The research, a joint project between Swinburne’s two campuses, is looking into ways to encapsulate capsaicin.

Capsaicin is the essence of chilli; it’s what makes chilli, well, “chilli” and has a lot of health benefits. One of these benefits is that it increases our metabolism and can aid weight loss. However, to really see noticeable health results a large dose is required, which isn’t safe to consume in one go.

Swinburne researchers believe that once ingested, the capsaicin should be released slowly to overcome this problem. Phoebe is looking at a technique called ‘Microwave assisted micro-emulsion technique’ and the expertise and equipment for this technique is available at Swinburne Melbourne.

A similar technique has successfully provided a means to control the release of oral anti-cancer drugs. This is very promising and it is expected that the same may apply to capsaicin!