Angeliki Triantafyllou, a Greek-Swedish biotechnology scientist, has won the 2026 European Inventor Award, one of the mo...

Angeliki Triantafyllou, a Greek-Swedish biotechnology scientist, has won the 2026 European Inventor Award, one of the most prestigious science prizes on the continent, for developing the enzyme process behind oat milk as the world knows it today. The invention came out of research that began in the early 1990s at Lund University in Sweden, where Triantafyllou was working on her biotech doctorate. The goal at the time was to find alternatives for people with lactose intolerance and to make use of oat byproducts. Up to 65% of the global population has some difficulty digesting lactose, making the problem she was solving one of wide scale. The core of her work was an enzymatic process that combines protein deamidation enzymes with amylases. That combination increases the solubility of oat protein while breaking down starch, producing a drink that is whiter in color, higher in protein, and capable of forming a fine, stable foam. That last quality turned out to be critical, because it made the product viable for coffee drinks and espresso-based beverages. Together with colleagues at Oatly, she developed and refined the patented process that became the foundation of the Oatly Barista product line, pushing oat milk from a niche product for people with dietary restrictions into the mainstream market. Triantafyllou has since founded her own company, Cerealiq AB, where she continues developing enzymatic processes for plant-based drinks made from oats and legumes. Also notable from this year's award cycle, Greek-Swiss inventor Evangelos Eleftheriou was a finalist in the Industry category for foundational technologies that improved how digital data is stored, read, and processed. Two Greek-origin scientists reaching the finals of the same European award cycle is a rare achievement. Triantafyllou said the award is recognition of the fundamental importance of food science, a field where research and modern technology are opening the path to meeting the growing challenges facing the planet. #Greece #Innovation #EuropeanInventorAward