DrSamuel King

Samuel King's research sits at the intersection of sustainable bioprocessing, protein and metabolite science, and circular economy innovation. Operating from Deakin University's Centre for Sustainable Bioproducts and the Deakin BioFactory, one of Australia's most advanced pilot-scale bioproduct facilities, his group converts overlooked organic waste streams into high-value functional ingredients with real commercial applications.

Protein extraction and valorisation from food waste. A central focus is the recovery and characterisation of valuable proteins from dairy wastewater generated during milk processing and cheese production. This includes the isolation of whey proteins for uses in biogas, bioplastics or nutritional supplements. Samuel applies chromatography, membrane filtration, and fermentation to develop scalable workflows applicable to industry, complementing extraction and utilisation with mass spectrometry for sample characterisation. This work addresses both the significant waste burden of the dairy industry and the growing global demand for functional dairy proteins and alternative sources to petrochemical fuel and plastics.

Marine and seaweed bioproducts. Samuel is developing a suite of extraction protocols to convert Australian kelp and macroalgae biomass into biostimulant products for human and agricultural applications. This includes conventional ethanol extraction and enzyme hydrolysis, as well as greener options with supercritical CO₂ extraction at pilot scale. Extracts are characterised for phenolic compounds, bioactive lipids, and enzyme inhibitors from Ecklonia radiata, and evaluated in the School of Medicine for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Related work explores protein and collagen recovery from salmon and other marine byproducts, with applications in nutraceuticals and cosmetic-grade ingredients.

Industry collaboration and bioeconomy translation. Samuel works directly with Australian food and biotechnology companies to translate laboratory-stage bioprocessing advances into commercially viable products. His applied research model, combining rigorous analytical characterisation with regulatory-aware process design, positions his work at the forefront of Australia's emerging sustainable protein and circular bioeconomy sector. Emerging collaborations targeting the valorisation of agricultural harvest residues, the transformation of invasive carp into high-value protein ingredients, and the development of single cell proteins from microalgae are extending the reach and impact of Samuel's group in the circular bioeconomy across new industries and feedstock opportunities.