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Dr Bernadine Flanagan
Dr

Bernadine Flanagan

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 53449

Overview

Background

Since joining the Centre for Nutrition and Food Science in 2004, my work has focussed on food structure and how it changes during digestion and fermentation. I use NMR spectroscopy and wet chemistry techniques, to characterise polysaccharides particularly: starch, plant cell walls, dietary fibre and cellulose. My research has resulted in the publication of 93 papers with over 6000 citations and a H-index of 39 (scopus). I regularly review papers for Food Hydrocolloids and Carbohydrate polymers. I have co-supervised eight PhDs to completion and am currently co-supervising four PhD students and am principal supervisor to one PhD and two masters students.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science (Honours, 1997, UQ) and PhD in Inorganic Chemistry (2002, UQ) I worked with Prof David Fairlie (h-index 104, 42, 140 citations) to study peptide synthesis and high-field, multi-dimensional NMR.

I have practical experience with in vitro and digestion and fermentation and havecollaborated to perfect a batch fermentation system to compare the fermentability of a number of complex dietary fibres using human faecal inoculum. Using this methodology, I have studied how the chemistry and architecture of dietary fibres affects the digestion and fermentation of starches and dietary fibres. My Skills in NMR spectroscopy have enabled me to develop methods for quantifying starch molecular order and to quantify Short Chain Fatty acids and other fermemetabolites.

Availability

Dr Bernadine Flanagan is:
Available for supervision

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), The University of Queensland
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Research interests

  • Investigating food structure and how it affects digestibility and fermentability.

    Characterising starch and dietary fibres and exploring how they change in response to differences in processing conditions. How does food architecture affect the digestibility and fermentability of food and feeds. Using spectroscopy and analytical chemistry techniques to explore the composition and structures of food and feeds. Determining how the interaction of plant cell wall polysaccharides influences their structure and function with particular focus on the interactions of cellulose hemicelluloses. How the density and solubility of plant cell wall components drives fermentability.

Research impacts

Over the last twenty years (13 years FTE) I have been part of many multi-disciplinary teams working with industry, government and fellow university based researchers nationally and internationally. For Six years as part of the CSIRO Food Futures Flagship and then for 7 years as a member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Cell walls, a team of over 80 researchers, based at UA, UM, ANSTO and international collaborators in the UK and Sweden. These collaborations lead to many multi-disciplinary publications with a focus of polysaccharide structure and function. Using NMR, I established new methods for polysaccharide structure analysis and increased our understanding of complex plant cell wall structure relationships.

In 2005 I was awarded a UQ New Staff Research Start Up Fund. In 2023 I was a CI on a successful $1.68 million ARC LIEF bid for a national network for magnetic resonance spectroscopy. I am a CI on a recently awarded a $788, 130 ARC Linkage grant, LP240100343, in this project I will lead the activities in polysaccharide structure and characterisation. As a result of my interest in plant polysaccharides, I was voted Vice Chair of Australasian Grain Science Association (AGSA) and was appointed 2025 AGSA Brisbane conference chair.

Works

Search Professor Bernadine Flanagan’s works on UQ eSpace

129 works between 1999 and 2026

21 - 40 of 129 works

2023

Conference Publication

Infrared spectroscopy combined with machine learning techniques to monitor starch in vitro digestibility

Visnupriyan, R., Harper, K., Flanagan, B. and Cozzolino, D. (2023). Infrared spectroscopy combined with machine learning techniques to monitor starch in vitro digestibility. 46th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Nutrition Society of Australia, Perth, WA, Australia, 29 November - 2 December. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/S0029665123002057

Infrared spectroscopy combined with machine learning techniques to monitor starch in vitro digestibility

2023

Journal Article

Lactate and buyrate proportions, methanogen growth and gas production during in vitro dietary fibre fermentation all depend on fibre concentration

Yao, Hong, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Williams, Barbara A., Mikkelsen, Deirdre and Gidley, Michael J. (2023). Lactate and buyrate proportions, methanogen growth and gas production during in vitro dietary fibre fermentation all depend on fibre concentration. Food Hydrocolloids, 134 108061, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2022.108061

Lactate and buyrate proportions, methanogen growth and gas production during in vitro dietary fibre fermentation all depend on fibre concentration

2022

Journal Article

Amorphous packing of amylose and elongated branches linked to the enzymatic resistance of high-amylose wheat starch granules

Li, Haiteng, Dhital, Sushil, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Mata, Jitendra, Gilbert, Elliot P., Gilbert, Robert G. and Gidley, Michael J. (2022). Amorphous packing of amylose and elongated branches linked to the enzymatic resistance of high-amylose wheat starch granules. Carbohydrate Polymers, 295 119871, 119871. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.119871

Amorphous packing of amylose and elongated branches linked to the enzymatic resistance of high-amylose wheat starch granules

2022

Journal Article

Soluble fibre concentration effects during in vitro fermentation: Higher concentration leads to increased butyrate proportion

Yao, Hong, Williams, Barbara A., Flanagan, Bernadine M., Lisle, Allan, Mikkelsen, Deirdre and Gidley, Michael J. (2022). Soluble fibre concentration effects during in vitro fermentation: Higher concentration leads to increased butyrate proportion. Food Hydrocolloids, 130 107728, 107728. doi: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2022.107728

Soluble fibre concentration effects during in vitro fermentation: Higher concentration leads to increased butyrate proportion

2022

Conference Publication

Aroma as a tool to utilize the diversity of Australian wattleseeds

Jacob, Sera Susan, Flanagan, Bernadine, Williams, Barbara, Hickey, Sarah, Gidley, Mike and Smyth, Heather (2022). Aroma as a tool to utilize the diversity of Australian wattleseeds. AIFST Conference, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 22-24 August 2022.

Aroma as a tool to utilize the diversity of Australian wattleseeds

2022

Journal Article

Absolute abundance values reveal microbial shifts and co-occurrence patterns during gut microbiota fermentation of dietary fibres in vitro

Yao, Hong, Lu, Shiyi, Williams, Barbara A., Flanagan, Bernadine M., Gidley, Michael J. and Mikkelsen, Deirdre (2022). Absolute abundance values reveal microbial shifts and co-occurrence patterns during gut microbiota fermentation of dietary fibres in vitro. Food Hydrocolloids, 127 107422, 107422. doi: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2021.107422

Absolute abundance values reveal microbial shifts and co-occurrence patterns during gut microbiota fermentation of dietary fibres in vitro

2022

Journal Article

In vitro fermentation profiles of undigested fractions from legume and nut particles are affected by particle cohesion and entrapped macronutrients

Widaningrum, , Flanagan, Bernadine M., Williams, Barbara A., Sonni, Francesca, Chen, Pengfei, Mikkelsen, Deirdre and Gidley, Michael J. (2022). In vitro fermentation profiles of undigested fractions from legume and nut particles are affected by particle cohesion and entrapped macronutrients. Food and Function, 13 (9), 5075-5088. doi: 10.1039/d2fo00250g

In vitro fermentation profiles of undigested fractions from legume and nut particles are affected by particle cohesion and entrapped macronutrients

2022

Journal Article

Effect of processing on the solubility and molecular size of oat β-glucan and consequences for starch digestibility of oat-fortified noodles

Nguyen, Thoa T. L., Flanagan, Bernadine M., Tao, Keyu, Ni, Dongdong, Gidley, Michael J., Fox, Glen P. and Gilbert, Robert G. (2022). Effect of processing on the solubility and molecular size of oat β-glucan and consequences for starch digestibility of oat-fortified noodles. Food Chemistry, 372 131291, 131291. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131291

Effect of processing on the solubility and molecular size of oat β-glucan and consequences for starch digestibility of oat-fortified noodles

2022

Journal Article

In vitro fermentation of onion cell walls and model polysaccharides using human faecal inoculum: effects of molecular interactions and cell wall architecture

Lu, Shiyi, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Williams, Barbara A. and Gidley, Michael J. (2022). In vitro fermentation of onion cell walls and model polysaccharides using human faecal inoculum: effects of molecular interactions and cell wall architecture. Food Hydrocolloids, 124 107257, 107257. doi: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2021.107257

In vitro fermentation of onion cell walls and model polysaccharides using human faecal inoculum: effects of molecular interactions and cell wall architecture

2022

Journal Article

Starch structure and nutritional functionality – past revelations and future prospects

Junejo, Shahid Ahmed, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Zhang, Bin and Dhital, Sushil (2022). Starch structure and nutritional functionality – past revelations and future prospects. Carbohydrate Polymers, 277 118837, 118837. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118837

Starch structure and nutritional functionality – past revelations and future prospects

2022

Conference Publication

Inside out and upside down : Looking closer at Australian native wattleseeds for food applications

Jacob, Sera Susan, Smyth, Heather E., Flanagan, Bernadine M., Williams, Barbara A. and Gidley, Michael J. (2022). Inside out and upside down : Looking closer at Australian native wattleseeds for food applications. TropAg, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 31 October-2 November 2022.

Inside out and upside down : Looking closer at Australian native wattleseeds for food applications

2022

Conference Publication

The Wattleseed Effect : Exploring Australia’s native legumes for novel food applications

Jacob, Sera Susan, Smyth, Heather E., Flanagan, Bernadine M., Williams, Barbara A. and Gidley, Michael J. (2022). The Wattleseed Effect : Exploring Australia’s native legumes for novel food applications. 72nd Australasian Grain Science Conference, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 24-26 August 2022.

The Wattleseed Effect : Exploring Australia’s native legumes for novel food applications

2021

Journal Article

Multiple length scale structure-property relationships of wheat starch oxidized by sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide

Chapagai, Madan Kumar, Fletcher, Brenton, Witt, Torsten, Dhital, Sushil, Flanagan, Bernadine M. and Gidley, Michael J. (2021). Multiple length scale structure-property relationships of wheat starch oxidized by sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide. Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, 2 100147, 100147. doi: 10.1016/j.carpta.2021.100147

Multiple length scale structure-property relationships of wheat starch oxidized by sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide

2021

Conference Publication

Bunya nut as a healthy and versatile gluten-free source for flour production

Moura Nadolny, Jaqueline, Best, Odette, Flanagan, Bernadine, Shewan, Heather, Smyth, Heather E. and Stokes, Jason (2021). Bunya nut as a healthy and versatile gluten-free source for flour production. 6th Food Structures, Digestion and Health Conference, Virtual, 16-19 November 2021.

Bunya nut as a healthy and versatile gluten-free source for flour production

2021

Journal Article

Fermentation outcomes of wheat cell wall related polysaccharides are driven by substrate effects as well as initial faecal inoculum

Lu, Shiyi, Williams, Barbara A., Flanagan, Bernadine M., Yao, Hong, Mikkelsen, Deirdre and Gidley, Michael J. (2021). Fermentation outcomes of wheat cell wall related polysaccharides are driven by substrate effects as well as initial faecal inoculum. Food Hydrocolloids, 120 106978, 106978. doi: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2021.106978

Fermentation outcomes of wheat cell wall related polysaccharides are driven by substrate effects as well as initial faecal inoculum

2021

Journal Article

Isolated pectin (apple) and fruit pulp (mango) impact gastric emptying, passage rate and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production differently along the pig gastrointestinal tract

Low, Dorrain Yanwen, Pluschke, Anton M., Flanagan, Bernadine, Sonni, Francesca, Grant, Lucas J., Williams, Barbara A. and Gidley, Michael J. (2021). Isolated pectin (apple) and fruit pulp (mango) impact gastric emptying, passage rate and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production differently along the pig gastrointestinal tract. Food Hydrocolloids, 118 106723, 106723. doi: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2021.106723

Isolated pectin (apple) and fruit pulp (mango) impact gastric emptying, passage rate and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production differently along the pig gastrointestinal tract

2021

Journal Article

Interaction of cellulose and xyloglucan influences in vitro fermentation outcomes

Lu, Shiyi, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Williams, Barbara A. and Gidley, Michael J. (2021). Interaction of cellulose and xyloglucan influences in vitro fermentation outcomes. Carbohydrate Polymers, 258 117698, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117698

Interaction of cellulose and xyloglucan influences in vitro fermentation outcomes

2021

Journal Article

In vitro fermentation of legume cells and components: Effects of cell encapsulation and starch/protein interactions

Bhattarai, Rewati R., Dhital, Sushil, Williams, Barbara A., Yang, Hong Jian, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Flanagan, Bernadine M. and Gidley, Michael J. (2021). In vitro fermentation of legume cells and components: Effects of cell encapsulation and starch/protein interactions. Food Hydrocolloids, 113 106538. doi: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2020.106538

In vitro fermentation of legume cells and components: Effects of cell encapsulation and starch/protein interactions

2021

Journal Article

Wheat cell walls and constituent polysaccharides induce similar microbiota profiles upon in vitro fermentation despite different short chain fatty acid end-product levels

Lu, Shiyi, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Yao, Hong, Williams, Barbara A., Flanagan, Bernadine M. and Gidley, Michael J. (2021). Wheat cell walls and constituent polysaccharides induce similar microbiota profiles upon in vitro fermentation despite different short chain fatty acid end-product levels. Food and Function, 12 (3), 1135-1146. doi: 10.1039/d0fo02509g

Wheat cell walls and constituent polysaccharides induce similar microbiota profiles upon in vitro fermentation despite different short chain fatty acid end-product levels

2021

Conference Publication

Exploring the diversity in wattleseeds for food applications

Jacob, Sera Susan , Smyth, Heather E. , Flanagan, Bernadine M. , Williams, Barbara A. and Gidley, Michael J. (2021). Exploring the diversity in wattleseeds for food applications. Australasian Seed Science Conference , Virtual, 6-8 September 2021.

Exploring the diversity in wattleseeds for food applications

Funding

Current funding

  • 2025 - 2028
    Chemical and mechanical modification of starch-based packaging materials
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2024 - 2025
    A national network for magnetic resonance spectroscopy
    ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
    Open grant
  • 2005 - 2007
    Study of Iron Chelation in Rice
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Dr Bernadine Flanagan is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

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