Research
Ruixian’s current research focuses on:
- Developing strategies to recover protein from underutilized sources (e.g., food waste)
- Investigating how genotypes and environmental stress affect the protein content, antinutritional factors, nutritional values, and techno-functional properties of proteins, particularly in legumes/pulses
Past research
Ruixian conducted research on the utilization of alternative proteins for development of meat analogues.
Publications:
Han, R., Wang, Y., Yang, Z., Micklethwaite, S., Mondor, M., Paximada, E. and Hernández-Álvarez, A.J., 2025. Industrial-scale fractionation of fava bean, chickpea, and red lentil: A comparative analysis of composition, antinutrients, nutrition, structure, and functionality. Current Research in Food Science, p.101152.
Han, R., McDowell, R., Gaunt, S., Mondor, M. and Hernández-Álvarez, A.J., 2025. Transforming oilseed blends: the impact of low-moisture extrusion on antinutritional factors, protein structure, and nutritional value. Food Chemistry, p.144417.
He also employed in silico, in vitro, and cell culture models to investigate the biological (antioxidant, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory) activities of oilseed protein hydrolysates.
Publications:
Han, R., Alvarez, A.J.H., Maycock, J., Murray, B.S. and Boesch, C., 2022. Differential effects of oilseed protein hydrolysates in attenuating inflammation in murine macrophages. Food Bioscience, 49, p.101860.
Han, R., Álvarez, A.J.H., Maycock, J., Murray, B.S. and Boesch, C., 2021. Comparison of alcalase-and pepsin-treated oilseed protein hydrolysates–Experimental validation of predicted antioxidant, antihypertensive and antidiabetic properties. Current Research in Food Science, 4, pp.141-149.
Han, R., Maycock, J., Murray, B.S. and Boesch, C., 2019. Identification of angiotensin converting enzyme and dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitory peptides derived from oilseed proteins using two integrated bioinformatic approaches. Food research international, 115, pp.283-291.
Other publications:
Martínez-Villaluenga, C., Peñas, E., Mondor, M., Han, R. and Hernández-Álvarez, A.J., 2024. Bioactive peptides released from legumes during gastrointestinal digestion. In Protein Digestion-Derived Peptides (pp. 261-303). Academic Press.
Osuna-Gallardo, E.I., Cuevas-Rodríguez, E.O., Sepúlveda-García, C.I., Reyes-Moreno, C., León-López, L., Han, R. and Hernández-Álvarez, A.J., 2023. Impact of cooking and extrusion processing on nutritional, antinutritional, and techno-functional characteristics of indigenous bean (Phaseolus coccineus). ACS Food Science & Technology, 3(11), pp.1835-1853.
