Comprehensive Plant Protein Functionality Database
FoodProt is a web platform for collecting, reviewing, visualizing, and exporting plant protein functionality data from literature, collaborative experiments, and molecular dynamics simulation metadata. It helps researchers and collaborators organize comparable datasets, check data quality, create ML-ready exports, and support future predictive modeling.
About FoodProt
FoodProt is a multi-institution plant protein functionality database developed to make scattered literature data, collaborative experimental results, simulation metadata, and future model outputs easier to compare and use. The platform supports data entry, review, quality checking, visualization, export, and future predictive modeling for plant protein behavior under different food processing conditions.
Food protein functionality data are often scattered across studies that use different proteins, treatments, analytical methods, and reporting formats. FoodProt brings these data into a structured database so researchers can compare, clean, visualize, export, and eventually model protein functionality more systematically.
Objective 1
Build a structured database from plant protein literature.
Objective 2
Integrate collaborative experimental datasets and molecular dynamics simulation metadata.
Objective 3
Support user access, education, contribution, feedback, and future model-result sharing.
Faculty leads
Dr. Jing Zhao (PI)
Associate Professor · M.S. Food Science Coordinator
School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences
San Diego State University
Focuses on food protein functionality, flavor chemistry, novel proteins, agricultural by-products, and plant/algae protein applications.
Dr. B. Pam Ismail (Co-PI)
Professor · Founder and Director, Plant Protein Innovation Center · Director of Graduate Studies, Food Science
Department of Food Science and Nutrition
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Focuses on plant protein chemistry, structure-function relationships, sustainable crops, protein extraction, structural characterization, and protein functionalization.
Dr. Yonghui Li (Co-PI)
Associate Professor · Graduate Program Director · Wheat Quality Lab Director
Department of Grain and Food Science
Kansas State University
Focuses on grain protein chemistry, protein functionality, bioactive peptides, bakery science, computational simulation, and applied AI/machine learning.
Dr. Youling Xiong (Co-PI)
Professor
Department of Animal & Food Sciences
University of Kentucky
Focuses on protein chemistry, plant protein functionality, gelation, emulsification, legume protein modification, and structure-function behavior.
Dr. Hualu Zhou (Co-PI)
Assistant Professor
Department of Food Science & Technology
University of Georgia
Focuses on future foods, biomaterials, food nanotechnology, emulsions, digestion models, molecular modeling, and data analysis.
