Food technology

Many foods such as cheese, yoghurt, beer, yeast dough or soy sauce have a special characteristic taste and are therefore very popular. So-called non-volatile substances in particular are the basic building blocks for these unique taste profiles. These building blocks in turn consist of fragments of long protein molecules that are formed during the microbial or enzymatic conversion (fermentation) of milk or cereal proteins.

In July of this year, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) ruled that organisms obtained by using new techniques of directed mutagenesis, including those known as ‘gene editing techniques’ such as CRISPR-Cas, are genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As GMOs, they are subject to the corresponding legislation, the so-called GMO-Directive.

In early December, the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) will take place in Katowice, Poland. In the Paris Climate Accord three years ago, the participating states agreed to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius. To achieve this goal, almost all sectors of the economy must rethink and establish new, sustainable and environmentally friendly processes. Now, the participants of the COP24 meeting in Poland will discuss the measures taken as well as their progress.

In light of the growing world population and dwindling resources, we can no longer afford to simply throw away food. And yet, according to a study by the environmental foundation WWF Germany, ten million tons of food end up in Germany's garbage every year - often for fear of spoiled goods. However, many foods are edible for much longer than the best-before date suggests. To limit this wasteful behaviour, Fraunhofer researchers have developed a pocket-sized food scanner that detects whether food is spoiled.

It is a step towards reducing food waste: The European Institute for Innovation and Technology with a Focus on Nutrition (EIT Food) has launched a competition for Master and PhD students. The aim was to develop a product based on bananas, bread and potatoes that would be thrown away by retailers due to expired best before dates.

China is the largest market for baby food with 50% of the world market volume. The German Jennewein Biotechnologie GmbH now wants to develop this market for its human milk oligosaccharides and has signed a cooperation agreement with the Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group. Together with the Chinese market leader in dairy products, Jennewein intends to develop an infant formula and other dairy products specifically tailored to the Chinese market. In addition, the cooperation will further research the microbiome of newborns.

Jellyfish is a delicacy. At least in Western Europe, this thought will cause some bewilderment. But in Asian cuisine, the wobbly sea animals have been on the menu for centuries and are considered exclusive delicacies. One reason for this is certainly the time-consuming preparation, which takes several weeks. Chemists from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz and the University of Southern Denmark have now investigated what happens chemically to jellyfish tissue during this process and developed an alternative to the slow variant.