The research group works with various processes for preserving food, in particular drying and freezing processes. The research projects center on optimizing the process characteristics with regard to the reduction of resource consumption (raw materials, water, energy…). The focus is on food preservation processes because shelf-stable products make a major contribution to resource conservation (water consumption, CO2 eq. emissions), due to reduced losses during transportation and storage. During process optimization, desired product properties must be retained or, ideally, could be selectively determined. The design of product properties is therefore another focus of research. Product properties (shelf life, sensory properties, redispersibility...) are generally conditioned by the microstructure of the products, such as particle size distribution or porosity. These microstructures can, in turn, be influenced—and thus controlled—with the manufacturing process. These relationships are also referred to as property-process functions.

The detailed research topics are:

• Design and storage of frozen foods, application of functional proteins, mechanistic understanding of effects using MDS simulations
• Optimization of freeze-drying processes
• Model-based optimization of conventional and modern solid-state microwave-drying processes
• Development of ACLR nozzles for resource-saving spray drying of highly viscous liquids, application of CFD simulation tools
• Atomization of emulsions in the spray-drying process for microencapsulation

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