Dionysios D. Neofytos

New insight into the creation of foodstuffs

Food physics

New methods developed by Dionysios D. Neofytos make it possible to study the creation of foodstuffs in real time. This may contribute to the development of sustainable foodstuffs in the future.

Dionysios D. Neofytos, who holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Athens, studied fundamental mechanisms behind the creation of foodstuffs as part of his PhD project at the Department of Food Science in Skejby. Here he invented a method that combines microfluidics and advanced spectral imaging and thus makes it possible to visualise food components in their natural environment. “Foods like cheeses for instance are extremely complex. We can only produce delicious cheeses because humans for thousands of years have refined the production method. They did not have detailed scientific knowledge of the process. We still do not know exactly how e.g. the milk proteins interact and thus how to change the cheese to our liking,” Dionysios D. Neofytos explains. As a PhD student, he developed a new test design. Using 3D printing, he produced the equipment that has now enabled him to describe food processes in detail using a FTIR spectrometer. “Spectral imaging helps us identify proteins, fats and polysaccharides and their chemical fingerprint, and how their structure changes in the production of e.g. emulsions or jellies. We can monitor the process in real time and without interfering, and this may serve as a next step in the production of hybrid products that combine plant and milk proteins in new ways,” says Dionysios D. Neofytos, who continues to work on the method as a postdoc at AU. He is currently cooperating with the Arla Innovation Centre.