NUTRITION BARS ARE CONVENIENT AND DESIRABLE FOR THE CONSUMERS AND CONSTITUTE A LARGE PORTION OF THE US AND GLOBAL MARKET. THE SHARE OF BARS CLASSIFIED AS PROTEIN RICH WAS ESTIMATED AT ~54%. TRADITIONALLY PRODUCED ENERGY BARS SUFFER FROM HARDENING OF THE TEXTURE WHICH IS ATTRIBUTED TO CHANGES IN PROTEIN STRUCTURE WITH TIME DURING STORAGE. NUTRITION BARS HAVE SUFFICIENTLY LOW MOISTURE LEVELS TO PREVENT GROWTH OF BACTERIA BUT HIGH ENOUGH TO SUPPORT PHYSICAL CHANGES TO AFFECT TEXTURE AND TASTE OF THE PRODUCTS.THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON AN INNOVATIVE ULTRASONIC COMPRESSION PROCESS WHICH HAS NOT BEEN EXPLORED FOR NUTRIENT-DENSE BAR PRODUCTION. ULTRASONIC COMPRESSION PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT ALTERNATIVE BECAUSE IT REQUIRES LESS MOISTURE FOR THE BAR PRODUCTION BY ADJUSTING ULTRASONICVIBRATION CONDITIONS TO ACHIEVE ENERGY LEVELS, TEMPERATURE CHANGE AND UNIFORMITY WITHIN THE PRODUCT. WE EXPECT THAT SONICATION WILL IMPROVE COMPRESSION PROCESSING AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL AND WILL REDUCE WATER REQUIREMENT, IMPROVING STRUCTURE INTEGRITY AND TEXTURE, SHORTENINGPROCESSING TIME, MINIMIZING WASTE AND EXTENDING SHELF-LIFE.WE WILL FORMULATE WHEAT FLOUR-BASED NUTRITION BARS WITH VARYING PROTEIN AND WATER CONTENT AND DETERMINE THE APPROPRIATE LEVELS OF ULTRASONICATION VARIABLES FOR COMPRESSION. OPTIMUM PROCESS VARIABLES WILL BE EVALUATED BY CHARACTERIZING TEXTURAL PROPERTIES AND STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE PRODUCT. FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS OF ULTRASONIC EFFECT ON COMPRESSING NUTRIENT BAR WILL BE ANALYZED AND RESULTING DATA WILL BE UTILIZED TO DEVELOP MODELS TO PREDICT PROCESS VARIABLES COMPLEMENTARY TO NUTRITION BAR FORMULATION. WE EXPECT THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL SONICATION ASSISTED NUTRITION BAR PROCESSING AND RESULTING NOVEL PRODUCTS TO ADVANCE MARKET COMPETITIVENESS FOR A SUSTAINABLE AND HEALTHY FOOD SUPPLY.