Molly Massey

Profile

Molly is a current first year PhD Student, specialising in the crystallisation of lipids for the production of vegan chocolate. Before coming back into her studies, Molly was a Senior Product Developer for four years, working on products such as cured meats, vegan sauces and seasonings, and chocolate biscuits – some of which you may have in your cupboard yourself. Molly holds a BSc in Biology and a MSc in Agri-Food Technology, both from the University of Lincoln. During her studies, Molly conducted in-depth research projects, with subjects varying from Cell Biology to Animal Anatomy & Physiology, to Agri-Robotics to Advances Food Manufacturing, as well as two dissertation, lab- and fieldwork based research projects.

Research interests

Molly is currently investigating the crystallisation of lipids for the production of vegan/low carbon footprint chocolate under the supervision of Prof Michael Rappolt and Dr Elena Simone. Specifically, she will be looking into how the structure and crystallisation behaviour of milk fat triglycerides effects the blooming activity within chocolate, the potential importance of specific TAG molecules on key characteristics and the rheology of chocolate, and ultimately, whether we can replace/enhance current chocolate with the use of the aforementioned TAG molecules in plant-based chocolate.

Qualifications

• BSc In Biology
• MSc in Agri-Food Technology