Forskning ved Fødevarekemi

Kvaliteten af vores fødevarer afhænger af de kemiske og fysiske processer, der foregår i fødevaren fra opdræt, over slagtning og høst, til produktion og forarbejdning, emballering og lagring i supermarkeder.

 

På Fødevarekemi forsker vi i at identificere, forstå og forudsige kemiske og fysiske processer på et molekylært niveau. Ligesom vi forsker i effekten på den overordnede kvalitet, såsom holdbarhed, farve og smag, for derved at kunne styre kvalitet og holdbarhed.

 

Research profile

The challenges of increasing global demand for foods, focus on healthy and tasty food, as well as the need for new environmental friendly production processes will dominate food research in the coming years.

A prerequisite for success and advanced innovative solutions in these areas will be detailed knowledge about the properties of food components in complex food matrices during processing and storage.

Our research provides the chemical and physical knowledge important for functionality, structure, flavour, nutritional value, quality, and stability of foods. We investigate all stages of chemical and physical properties, interactions, and structures, based on analytical and mechanistic studies with molecular tools and disciplines like kinetics, thermodynamics, spectroscopy, chromatography, and microscopy.

 

Our research and education of high international standards apply from the interdisciplinary, core areas:

 

Food material science and stability

Molecular functionality

Meat quality

High pressure and non-thermal food processing (NTP technologies)
Molecular gastronomy and culinary chemistry
 

Food material science and stability

The focus is on the chemical and physical molecular interactions in foods that affect the quality and stability of foods. This will involve research on the spatial progression of deteriorating chemical reactions in foods with complex physical microscopic structures, studies of the molecular interactions between physicochemical processes and structure of foods, and studies of the chemical effects of microbiological activity in foods. Specific research will include studies of mechanisms of degradation of essential food components, mechanisms of interactions between complex mixtures of antioxidants, stability of plant based beverages with special focus on beer, stability of pigments in foods, Maillard chemistry, and health aspects of radical formation by meat pigments and of advanced glycation end products.

 

The research will be based on use of advanced microscopic techniques, electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR), stopped flow spectroscopy, laser flash photolysis, and chromatographic methods. Development of new and improved instrumental methods for studies of food quality and stability will be an integrated part of the research, with special attention to development of ESR-based methods for studies of physicochemical properties at a microscopic scale with spatial resolution.

 

Foods are bio-materials characterized by physical and chemical structure and comprising components in gaseous, liquid, crystalline, liquid crystalline and glassy state. Food materials are in general unstable and can undergo physical and chemical transformation as influenced by thermodynamic parameters such as temperature, pressure, water activity. The food materials (food matrix) are the medium in which chemical reaction take place and therefore a profound interrelationship between physical and chemical stability can often be observed.

 

Specific research will include crystallization processes in food materials, interrelations between glassy state and chemical stability, preservation of bioactive materials such as enzymes and probiotic bacteria. Tailoring of food materials with specific properties in terms of stability of chemical components and release of bio active components. Tailoring of food materials with novel sensory properties. Understanding meat as a food material. Transforming food materials using high hydrostatic pressures

 

The research will be based on the chemical methodologies available at the Department of Food Science as well as methodologies aimed at deducing structure such as advanced imaging techniques, scattering and diffractions techniques.

 

 

Molecular functionality

Food enzymology is the application of enzymes and starter cultures to improve the quality and functionality of foods and food ingredients. We investigate the activity of enzymes endogeneous to food and how it affects the quality of the final product, in order to be able to tune it to get the optimal effect on the product. For example, we investigate the activity of endogeneous enzymes in meat (calpains and cathepsins) after various processing steps. We also have great interest allocated to the use of exogeneous enzymes (and starter cultures) for the improvement of existing products and in the manufacturing of new structures and products. For example, we use enzymes of plant, animal and bacterial origin to produce bioactive peptides and improve functional properties of milk proteins and to improve the tenderness of meat cuts.

 

Proteomics and system biology is used to on obtaining a better understanding of the basic biochemical mechanism in the muscle that has an influence on meat quality and functionality by investigation the post mortem changes in the muscle proteome such as protein expression and degradation, but also the effect of changes in protein modifications caused by storage and processing on meat is studied. Proteomics is also used to identify biomarkers that can be used for breeding, meat quality sorting, etiological studies (animal welfare and stress) and to study the genetic influence on meat quality. Moreover, is a combination of proteomics and cell model and knock-out model systems are used to study the regulation and activity of specific enzymes that are involved in tenderization of meat.

 

 

Meat quality

Research related to raw meat materials is very important for optimal quality of meat raw material and processed meat products. Hence, our cross-disciplinary -from farm to fork- research span from the cellular basis to meat products with focus on biological diversity, structural and physiological aspects of the meat as well as biophysical properties. In addition, focus is on providing processed meat products high in nutritional quality, eating quality and produced under sustainable conditions. This include aspects such as reducing the content of salt and additives in meat products, addition of natural functional and bioactive components, and processing methods like marination, heat treatment, high-pressure processing, and sous-vide treatment to increase the palatability and functional properties of the product and create a sustainable use of food materials.

 

 

High pressure and non-thermal food processing (NTP technologies)

Non-thermal technologies have wide potential for producing unique foods with improved microstructure, natural taste and no additives, due to targeted modification of the food constituents. Food components have a variety of functional properties in foods, e.g. proteins and polysaccharides being structure formers and non-thermal food processing create specific impact on the molecular forces involved in intra- and intermolecular interactions and provide functional activity and stability differently than heat. The changes in molecular forces lead to conformational changes including modulation of enzyme activity responsible for cross-linking or degradation of food structures, and through changed functional properties result in new structures. Optimisation and tailoring of specific or combined functionalities is of practical importance also comprising preservation of bioactive compounds and binding of flavour components. By clarifying the fundamentals of the physico-chemical effects on biomolecules, the possibility to engineer food ingredients can be exploited for commercially-feasible applications, thus, opening opportunities to control and create novel food structures.

 

An example of NTP technology is high hydrostatic pressure, and we have scientific competences and experimental experiences in high pressure methods in food processing and the effects on food components and their properties.

 

 

Molecular gastronomy and culinary chemistry

Traditional food science can in many ways be described as basic and applied science aimed at supporting food industry and understanding and controlling phenomena relevant for food industry. For traditional food science high degree of stability, low price and long shelf life is having high priority. Molecular gastronomy and culinary chemistry is a subfield of food science aimed at studying aspects related to small scale production of highly pleasurable food by using available techniques and knowledge of traditional food science and other scientific fields. As most people is concerned with eating and even preparing their own delicious food, the field molecular gastronomy has shown a strong appeal to a broad audience.

 

Research of the type often takes its starting point in gastronomical traditions, recipes or problems raised by chefs. However, the focus point of molecular gastronomy and culinary chemistry could also be adopted by other research projects in order to have activities focused on the gastronomical potential of the research.

 

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