Chulalongkorn University’s Science Students Win Food Innovation Award with “Pork Knuckle Trio” 

Nutrinex, a student team from the Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, has won the Second Runner-Up Prize with their product “Pork Knuckle Trio” (Kha Mhoo Sam Sahai) in the FoSTAT Food Innovation Contest 2025 under the theme Food Innovation for Silver Generation on June 13, 2025.

Under the supervision of Asst. Prof. Dr. Varapha Kongpensook and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kanitha Tananuwong, the team consists of 4 seniors (Miss Chesthidaporn Mahaboonpachai, Miss Parima Hanitthinan, Miss Rattaporn Kittiruedeekul, and Mr. Worachit Suniwacharanuphong) and 1 junior student (Mr. Supawich Thierncharoen). 

The “Pork Knuckle Trio” is a ready-to-eat food innovation that presents the familiar taste of braised pork knuckle in a health-conscious and convenient-to-consume formula, especially for elderly consumers. The “Trio” design features 3 layers:

• Low-fat pork layer with texture modified for easy chewing by cutting the pork into smaller pieces and reforming it into appropriately-sized portions, using enzyme technology to reduce sodium, then seasoned with pork leg braising spices to achieve the flavor of slow-braised pork knuckle. 
• A fat layer that mimics pork fat using blended vegetable fats to reduce saturated fat and cholesterol but doesn’t melt when heated, providing a smooth, silky texture that doesn’t coat the inner side of the mouth. 
• Seasoned pork skin layer that is perfectly tender, beautifully colored, and aromatic with braising spices.

The “Trio” layers are connected using enzyme technology to form a pork knuckle piece, resulting in a product with consistent composition and nutritional value that is easy to quality control and doesn’t require long braising. It’s enhanced with delicious MSG-free pork braising soup that maintains traditional braising flavor but with less sodium, using natural ingredients high in umami and kokumi. The result is a product with “high protein, reduced fat, saturated fat, and sugar, and low sodium.” One serving unit consists of a 100-gram pork knuckle pouch and a 70-ml braising sauce pouch in a polypropylene tray that can be microwaved. The product can be stored at 4°C for no less than 14 days.

This innovation not only produces braised pork knuckle that is delicious, easy to chew, and more health-friendly than the traditional version, but also eliminates the braising process, thereby reducing energy consumption in production and making it easy to adapt to industrial-level meat product production lines. Therefore, the “Pork Knuckle Trio” innovation that is “tender and smooth, aromatic with braising spices, deliciously satisfying, and fully healthy” represents a familiar menu that appeals to health-conscious elderly consumers. 

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