Saleha Akter

Dr Saleha Akter is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), within The University of Queensland. She is available for student supervision and leads research focused on the nutritional, bioactive, and safety aspects of native Australian foods using advanced in-vitro digestion and cell-culture models.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) – The University of Queensland

Research Interests

Dr Akter’s core passion is understanding the nutritional and bioactive potential of Native Australian foods. Her work integrates in-vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion with mammalian cell-culture techniques to evaluate how phytochemicals and nutrients are biotransformed and absorbed in the human body. She is particularly focused on:

• bioaccessibility and bioavailability of functional food ingredients,
• microbial degradation pathways of bioactive phytochemicals,
• identification and characterization of gut-microbiota interactions for health promotion and disease prevention.

Publication Themes & Trends

Across more than 50 scholarly outputs, Dr Akter’s publications reveal a consistent trajectory toward valorising under-utilised Australian native plants—especially Terminalia ferdinandiana (Kakadu plum), Terminalia canescens (Jilungin), Tasmannia lanceolata, and other indigenous herbs. The studies combine compositional analysis, processing effects (drying, roasting, nano-encapsulation), in-vitro digestion/fermentation, cytotoxicity screening, and functional product development. The collective impact positions these native species as potent sources of antioxidants, antimicrobials, and functional ingredients for the nutraceutical and food industries.

Funding & Grants

• Current (2024–2025): Roogenic Pty Ltd Open Grant – “Assessing the safety of Jilungin by using in vitro techniques and gut health properties by using in vitro dynamic gut model”
• Past (2023–2024): Roogenic Pty Ltd Open Grant – “Assessing the quality and safety of herbal beverages for market access”

Supervision & Mentorship

Dr Akter is actively available for supervision of higher-degree research students interested in food science, nutrition, phytochemistry, and gut-health research. Prospective students are encouraged to contact her directly via saleha.akter@uq.edu.au.

Research Facilities & Collaborations

Her work is conducted within the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), leveraging state-of-the-art analytical platforms (UHPLC-PDA-MS/MS), cell-culture suites (Caco-2, hepatic and intestinal cell lines), and in-vitro dynamic gut models. Collaborations span industry partners (Roogenic Pty Ltd) and multi-disciplinary research teams across food chemistry, microbiology, and plant sciences.