Overview

Erika Bujna is an associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Alcoholic Drink Technology, Institute of Food Science and Technology. Her main research areas include the development and optimisation of fermentation technology and the production of different enzymes by microorganisms. She investigates lactic acid bacteria and their metabolites especially those with probiotic properties. Additionally, their application to the design of fermented and functional foods, beverages with health promoting effects and the synthesis of oligosaccharides. She supervises the research work of many bachelor, master and PhD students in these fields. She won the prestigious Excellence Research Fellowship (2014) in Corvinus University of Budapest and the Master Teacher Gold Medal (2019) was awarded by OTDT.

Research keywords:
fermented food, probiotics, enzyme fermentation, bioconversion, food biotechnology

Publications

Vi N.H. Vu, Csilla Kohári-Farkas, Róbert Filep, Gábor Laszlovszky, Ban My Thi, Erika Bujna, Vijai Kumar Gupta, Quang D. Nguyen: Design and construction of artificial microbial consortia to enhance lignocellulosic biomass degradation, Biofuel Research Journal 10: (3) pp. 1890-1900. DOI: 10.18331/BRJ2023.10.3.3

Bujna Erika, Styevko Gabriella, Laskawy Peter, Rezessy-Szabo Judit Maria, Nguyen Vuong D., Tran Anh M.T., Ta Phuong Linh, Farkas Csilla, Gupta Vijai Kumar, Nguyen Quang D.: Synthesis of oligosaccharides with prebiotic potential by crude enzyme preparation from Bifidobacterium, Food Chemistry 367: 130696. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.130696

Linh Phuong Ta, Bujna Erika, Kun Szilard, Charalampopoulos Dimitris, Khutoryanskiy Vitaliy V.: Electrosprayed mucoadhesive alginate-chitosan microcapsules for gastrointestinal delivery of probiotics, International Journal of Pharmaceutics 597: 120342 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120342

Sun Weizhe, Nguyen Quang D., Süli Botond Kálmán, Alarawi Firas, Szécsi Anett, Gupta Vijai Kumar, Friedrich László Ferenc, Gere Attila, Bujna Erika: Microencapsulation and application of probiotic bacteria Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v strain, Microorganisms 11: (4) 947 
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11040947

Nguyen Bao Toan, Bujna Erika, Fekete Noemi, Tran Anh T. M., Rezessy-Szabo Judit M., Prasad Ram, Nguyen Quang D.: Probiotic beverage from pineapple juice fermented with Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium Strains, Frontiers In Nutrition 6: 54 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2019.00054


Projects

Development of a probiotic capsule and delivery device for the effective treatment of female urogenital infections (KFI_16-1-2017-0077) 
The aim of the research is to develop a device with probiotic lactic acid bacteria to maintain and restore the vaginal defence mechanism and eliminate pathogenic microbes. During the screening of the most promising probiotics, the metabolic activity (organic acid, biogenic amine, hydrogen peroxide), resistance to intimate cleansers, antibiotics, interaction of probiotics among each other. Finally, this project takes on the therapeutic aspect of live lactobacilli strains and prebiotics in the context of bacterial and fungal vaginosis. 
https://mediszer.hu/palyazatok/

Development of functional food products and nutritional ingredients based on milk proteins (GINOP_PLUSZ-2.1.1-21-2022-00048)
This project is aimed at the production of special protein blend based on milk protein isolates/concentrates (MPI/MPC) with a particular nutritional value was that exceeds the biological value of an ideal whey protein. This can significantly increase the potential for special applications of MPI/MPC products. This quality improvement will be achieved both by biotechnological pre-treatment of currently available MPI/MPC products and by the addition of non-MPI/MPC based protein formulations that improve digestibility by changing the amino acid composition. As a part of the project the production of bioactive peptides using enzymes and lactic acid bacteria is investigated.
https://palyazatok.uni-mate.hu/ginop_plusz-2.1.1-21-2022-00048

Development of the complex system of fruit production and processing in the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg region for efficient and sustainable economy 
GINOP-2.2.1-18-2020-00025) 
The main objective of this project with AGRICOLAE Ltd. is the production of high value-added food products from traditional fruits (apple, cherry, plum) in the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg region of Hungary, with special flavours and aromas. Furthermore, new innovative production, gentle preservation and advanced packaging technologies are developed to produce marketable products. During this project, fermented probiotic beverages were design using a mixture of the traditional fruits. The viability of the probiotic, the composition of the fermented fruit juice and the organoleptic properties was also investigated. 
https://palyazatok.uni-mate.hu/ginop-2.2.1-18-2020-00025

Dr. Erika Bujna
Institute of Food Science and Technology
Campus address: H-1118 Budapest, Villányi rd. 29-43.
Bujna.Erika@uni-mate.hu
Bujna.Erika@uni-mate.hu

MTMT: 10044379
Scopus: 6506079498