Food Technology Laboratory

Responsibility: Prof. Dr. Wolfram Schnäckel

During your Study:

Students on the degree programs “Ecotrophology” (MOE), “Sustainable Food Systems Engineering, Technology and Business” (BIFTEC) and “Food and Agribusiness” (MFA) gain insights into the various metrological possibilities for assessing the quality of animal and plant-based raw materials as well as intermediate and end food products as part of lab classes, interdisciplinary projects and theses and in collaboration with research groups. A small sensory laboratory also enables the gustatory assessment of foods produced in lab classes or developed in collaboration with research groups.

Tasks and fields of activity:

• Product- and process-oriented lab classes:
• Bachelor's degree program in Ecotrophology in the modules “Food Engineering”, “General Food Technology” and “Food Production and Assessment”
• Master's degree program in Ecotrophology in the modules “Special Food Technology - Plant-based Products” and “Special Food Technology - Animal Products”
• Master's degree program BIFTEC in the module “Meat Science Technology”
• Master's degree program MFA in the module “Food Technology and Quality”
• Students of the Ecotrophology, BIFTEC and MFA degree programs work on interdisciplinary projects and theses on issues relating to the quality assessment of animal and plant-based raw materials as well as intermediate and end food products, in particular:
  • Determination of physical and rheological properties and evaluation of factors influencing these, e.g.:
    • Density
    • Refractive index
    • Flow behavior/viscosity
  • Determination of factors influencing the structural-mechanical properties (texture) and color as part of instrumental sensor technology
  • Determination of physicochemical properties, e.g.:
    • pH value
    • Conductivity
    • Water activity
  • Investigation of factors influencing processing such as:
    • Crystallization/evaporation
    • Extraction
    • Filtration
    • Sifting
    • Grinding
    • Centrifugation/sedimentation
  • Metrological evaluation of the quality of raw materials used or intermediate products and food items produced, e.g.:
    • Emulsion stability
    • Water binding capacity
    • Yield
    • Texture
    • Color
  • Evaluation of the quality of manufactured food using a gustatory sensory system
  • Use of reference and rapid methods for the determination of ingredients:
    • Soxhlett fat extraction (reference method)
    • Moisture content determination via drying oven reference method
    • Microwave drying and NIR analysis (rapid analysis)
  • Measurement of process parameters (energy demand, torque, pressure changes)
• Support for the “Food and Nutrition Research” research group in the implementation of research projects and commissions from the private sector with a focus on prepared meat products and gourmet products

Technical equipment:

• Texture measuring devices (biaxial testing machine, texture analyzer, penetrometer)
• Chromatometer (portable, stationary)
• Spectrophotometer
• Microwave moisture analyzer
• NIR analyzer
• Water activity meter
• Vacuum rotary evaporator
• Laboratory roller mill
• Sieve analyzer
• Jolting volumeter
• Microscope
• Various measurement techniques for determining: Density, pH value, conductivity, viscosity, water retention, etc.

For the degree program:

Bachelor in Ecotrophology