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Enhancing Youth (18-26) Employability in Bakery Sector

Erasmus+ KA2 project
Strategic Partnership for Youth
2017-1-TR01-KA205-039233

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Sirli Rosenvald PhD defense – “Application of gas chromatography-olfactometry and correlation with sensory analysis”

Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies sensory and flavor science expert Sirli Rosenvald will defend her PhD thesis “Application of Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry (GC-O) and Correlation with Sensory Analysis”. Date and location: 24.11.2017, 15:00 TUT Natural Sciences building SCI-109 (Akadeemia tee 15)

Aroma is a very important characteristic of food, as it is having the main influence on how people perceive its quality. Aroma molecules have often rather low detection
threshold which makes the detection and quantification of specific compounds in
various matrixes a challenging task. Classical instrumental detectors may fail to assess
the aroma profile of food in the manner that is similar enough to sensory perception of
human assessor. Therefore, gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) is a useful
technique combining instrumental separation technique and human assessor as a
detector. Although, GC-O enables to receive aroma profile of the samples with good
sensitivity, it is coupled with different challenges. Humans, as assessors bring
subjectivity and flaws caused by the variation in sensitivity between the panellists and
inconstancy within the different runs of the same panellist.
Statistical methods are widely used in different disciplines to help extract valuable
information and discover patterns in data matrices invisible for human sight. As the
literature on methodological aspects on GC-O analysis as well as the published
research by using GC-O methods together with chemometric techniques is limited, this
thesis aims to bring some new insights to the possibilities of applicability of GC-O for
different scientific objectives.

Supervisors: Toomas Paalme and senior scientist Kristel Vene (TUT)

Opponents:

professor Andy Taylor (Nottingham University, UK)
Dr Mari Sandell (Turu University, Finland)
PhD is published here.

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New filtration equipment for Interreg project ‘Whey Valorization’

Interreg EST/LAT project “Whey Valorization” is underway at TFTAK and our Latvian partner company Smiltenes Piens.

The lead partner of the project is Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies (TFTAK). Smiltenes Piens (SP) is the third largest cheese producer in Latvia in terms of volume and the sixth largest ni terms of milk processing company. The company cooperates with more than 150 suppliers of high-quality Latvian milk, and exports to Russia, Estonia, Germany, Israel and USA. With traditions and skills that have been developed and improved for more than a century, the company has become one of the leaders of the milk processing industry in Latvia. The brand “Smiltenes piens” is recognized and appreciated both by people in Latvia and by gourmands abroad.

Whey (derived from cheese and casein production) is one of the most suitable by-products for food production. Almost without exception, whey-processing technologies result in a waste by-product; usually a lactose and mineral-rich permeate in large volumes. Science and technology advances, particularly over the past 10 years, have led to a greater understanding of lactose behaviour, simple and efficient approaches to its hydrolysis or its isolation at commercial-scale, and improved overall cost effectiveness in the processing of whey solids. No whey utilisation strategy will succeed without suitable attention being paid to lactose, as this component represents >75% of whey solids (Smithers, 2008).

The objective of the project is the development of the production technology of syrup from lactose solution separated from whey. To perform the objective of the project a hydrolyzation of lactose into galactose and glucose syrup can be used. This product will be applied for production of various baked and confectionery goods as well be used for soft drinks production. The enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose is technologically important and applies to milk and dairy products, as well as to whey and whey permeate.

New filtration equipment

TFTAK has set up a modern filtration equipment system for the project.

Different types of membranes are used in the industry for various purposes like extending the shelf life of milk without exposure to heat treatment, standardization of the major components of milk for tailoring new products as well increasing yield and quality of the dairy products, and concentrating, fractionation and purification of milk components, especially valuable milk proteins in their natural state.

Instead of milk there can be a protein solution or whey for example. Primarily the equipment is needed for purification of the solution from undesired components – e.g. from milk bacteria and fat is separated by microfiltration, pure water is separated by reverse osmosis, lactose is separated by nanofiltration and whey proteins and casein is separated by ultrafiltration.