Food Quality and Sensory Science

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  Meat Research

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  Sensory Science and Flavour Chemistry

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  Cereal and Bakery Research

Programme Objectives

• To understand meat and bakery ingredient interactions, innovative processing and product matrices for the better interpretation of product quality, and in the development of healthier, targeted novel foods.
• To focus on and develop specific sensory science techniques for food evaluation, including multimodal sensory perception, traditional and rapid sensory methodologies, and emotional profiling.
• To enhance the scientific understanding for profiling the chemical compounds required for flavour perception of foods and beverages.
• To apply a science-based approach for the optimisation of quality, consistency, efficiency and sustainability of fresh meat processing.

Meat research focuses on

• The optimisation of primary processing interventions for improved efficiencies and consistent high product quality in beef, sheepmeat and pigmeat.
• Investigating the structure, biochemical and molecular basis for variation in meat quality.
• Applications of innovative sensors to meat processing for quality, efficiency, sustainability
• Research to underpin future implementation of robotic systems to  meat processing
• Applying innovative imaging techniques, spectroscopy, proteomics, metabolomics and genomics to take a step closer to rapid assessment of eating quality.
• Impact of more sustainable, higher welfare production systems on meat eating quality
• Innovation in clean-label healthier processed meat products

Sensory science and flavour chemistry research focuses on

• Combining sensory, instrumental and flavour chemistry data using advanced sensometric techniques to understand flavour and texture perception of foods, and how these impact food choice.
• Developing rapid descriptive and consumer testing methods to investigate how ingredients, processing and shelf-life impact the sensory quality of foods.
• Conducting cross cultural studies to enable a greater understanding of international food sensory perceptions.
• Identifying volatile biomarkers for authentication, traceability and terroir in foods and beverages.
• Optimising extraction techniques for elucidating volatiles in foods and beverages
• Implementing novel VR, AR and biometric technologies for understanding the dynamics of human sensory perception.

Cereal and bakery research focuses on

• The development and transfer of enabling science and technology to support the bakery industry’s requirements for product quality and innovation.
• Fundamental and applied research on the links between intrinsic ingredient structure, functionality and interactions and end product functionality, using traditional and alternative ingredients.
• Staling kinetics and mechanical properties of baked products and snacks.
• Empirical and fundamental rheology of bakery formulations.
• Developing immersive and virtual methodologies for deciphering internal crumb structure.