Projects
Strategic Research Programme: Understanding the competitiveness and functional role of microorganisms in fermented food ecosystems Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Study of preharvest sprouting of wheat and assessment of postharvest technologies to reduce its impact on wheat and bread quality KU Leuven
Wheat is an important raw material for the production of staple food in the Western world. Therefore, uncontrolled variations in wheat yield and quality are of major concern for farmers and the wheat processing industry. Such variations are often caused by adverse climatological conditions like repeated and prolonged rainfall shortly before or during harvest. Preharvest sprouting (PHS) of wheat is the germination of the seed in the ear of the ...
Model-based active thermography for contactless quality assessment in the agro-food industry KU Leuven
In the agro-food industry, there is an increasing demand for non-destructive quality inspection tools that allow to inspect every individual product. This is the result of an increased focus on food safety and quality over the past decades. Several fast, non-destructive and contactless technologies have been studied for food quality inspection, many of them based on the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with the food product. ...
The role of lipids during sponge cake making and their impact on sponge cake quality KU Leuven
Flour, sugar and eggs are the main ingredients of sponge cake. This cake system therefore only contains lipids originating from flour and eggs (i.e. endogenous batter lipids). Cake making includes three stages: (i) mixing the ingredients into a batter, (ii) baking the batter until a cake is formed and (iii) cooling the cake to room temperature. Batter of sponge cake is a foam and thus an intrinsically unstable structure because of ...
Evaluation of the effects of pod storage and roasting on Ghanaian cocoa and chocolate quality KU Leuven
The flavor characteristics of cocoa are highly relevant for its market (economic) value as well as the overall acceptability of the end-chocolate product. For this reason ‘fine’ flavor cocoa is highly valued and priced over ‘bulk’ flavor cocoa, due to its acclaimed unique and desirable flavor attributes. Meanwhile, the latter alone accounts for over 95% of the total global cocoa supply. This presents an opportunity for exploring means by ...
Control of nitrogen and water in full-grain barn for a sustainable transition to increased taste and storage quality Soil service of Belgium
Main goal in the study was to achieve a higher fruit quality in strawberry trough sustainable irrigation and nitrogen (N) fertilization. The project focused on the relation between irrigation and N fertilization with fruit firmness and taste quality. Taste quality was quantified by the ratio between sugars and acids.
Irrigation trials were set up between 2014 and 2017 at Proefcentrum Hoogstraten (PCH) and Proefcentrum Fruitteelt ...
Towardssustainable nitrogen fertilization in ornamentals, taking into account theplant quality and the environment Ornamental plant research
Extended production cycle in laying hens KU Leuven
Laying hens are kept in production until the age of 75-80 wk, but the actual egg production period is only 55-60 weeks long, as young pullets start producing eggs approximately at 20 wk of age. During a single laying cycle a hen can produce on average 360 eggs. Extending the egg production period and keeping hens longer, possibly until 100 wk of age would not only contribute to increased profitability but also to more sustainable food ...
Improving crop production by field management strategies using crop water productivity modeling: Case study of tef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter) production in Tigray, Ethiopia. KU Leuven
Increasing food production to feed the fast growing world population particularly in developing countries relies on two options: either increase the arable land or improve the productivity of the existing cultivated land. This research focuses on the highly populated highlands ofTigray (northern Ethiopia), where improving the productivity of land isthe only option for sustainable food production. In the drought-prone and highly ...