Food Process Engineering Research and Innovation in a Fast-Changing World

Abstract

Among the most important challenges for the future of humanity is the provision of reasonably priced and sustainable supplies of energy, clean freshwater and adequate food, anywhere, anytime for anyone. Food process engineering is involved in all three of these main challenges directly or at least indirectly. A limiting factor for the growing of agricultural products, even today, is the sustainable supply of freshwater. In addition, water itself is the most important food. Freshwater shortage is a global problem, and water quality is of the utmost importance. Approximately 70 % of the freshwater consumed on Earth is needed to produce food and animal feed. Based on research in recent decades, promising novel food processes have been taken up by the food industry and are becoming globally marketable developments. Encouraging research areas of food engineering to achieve high food quality and to improve process efficiency at the lowest cost and better sustainability are summarised. With the help of some recent research results from our institute, some of these developments, such as novel food formulations and Multiphysics simulation of microwave processing, will be elucidated.