The Dairy Processing Laboratory research focus areas include Food Safety Engineering and Food Quality. Research in the area of Food Safety Engineering focuses on the development of new and improved processing methods able to reduce the microbial load in food systems, of current interest being membrane separation and Pulsed Light treatment. The Food Quality component of research aims at elucidating the intermolecular interactions and structural transformations that occur during processing of dairy and complex foods, and using this understanding to improve their quality and functionality.
EQUIPMENT:
- Strain-controlled Advanced Rheometric Expansion System (ARES) (TA Instruments)
- Zeta potential and particle size analysis instrumentation (Brookhaven Inc.)
- Thermal analysis system (DSC and TGA, Seiko Instruments)
- Pulsed Light treatment unit (Xenon Corp.)
- Incubators
- Colorimeter (Konica Minolta CR-400)
- Basic equipment for physical, chemical, and microbiological analyses
- Pilot scale, automated microfiltration unit equipped with ceramic membranes