Food Quality and Safety Post Harvest

1. Assess biological and chemical risks in agriculture systems2. Develop science-based interventions to prevent and mitigate threats3. Resolve safety and quality issues for processors by providing process and packaging solutions4. To evaluate the potentiality of fluorescence spectroscopy for the prediction of instrumental texture attributes and melting characteristics of process cheese.5. Evaluation of the micro-scale interactions in complex food systems that determine the stability, and bioavailability of behavior of small molecules (e.g., reactivity, phase distribution, bioavailability) in relation to food quality and functionality6. Design and characterization of novel delivery systems (i.e., nano-structured lipid composites, solid lipid nanoparticles, colloidosomes) for natural and functional food ingredients7. Evaluation of the antioxidant and anticarcinogenic properties of the designed delivery systems to control formation of heat-induced compounds8. To conduct scholarly activities related to food product development. This will encompass determination of sensory, safety, and quality parameters in new food products developed by students in the FDSCI 740 course: Research and Development of Food Products and students developing food products for Product Development Competitions. A secondary objective will be to assess how participation in competition teams enhances students Food Science education.