Research Groups
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND PROCESS DESIGN INSTITUTE
Department of Food-processing Machinery and Operations
Key research areas: Applications of Membrane Technology for the purpose of replacing conventional separation operations, producing higher-quality foods while reducing impact on the environment; production of industrial and drinking water as well as wastewater purification using membrane technology; Intensification, modelling and optimization of membrane operations in order to reduce the cost and environmental impact.
Departmental services: Separation of food-industry juices and wastewater using membrane technology- along with analytical measurements if demanded, modelling, optimization.
Equipment: Laboratory and pilot scale membrane filtration equipment (MF, UF, NF and RO), pervaporation (PV), respectively. membrane distillation / osmotic distillation (MD / OD) equipment, laboratory and pilot plant membrane bioreactor, tunnel dryer, film evaporator, GC, HPLC, devices determining particle size in micro- and nanometre ranges, density metre, TOC measurement equipment, spectrophotometres.
Department of Physics and Control
Key research areas: Physical characteristics of foods. Method and equipment development for the examination of mechanical (hardness, viscosity), optical (color, shape, spectral), dielectric and taste properties.
Departmental services: Objective taste characterization of liquid foods (classification, forgery, covering taste, origin); development of substance-monitoring systems; development of non-contact methods for the testing of surface distribution of compositional characteristics (water content, marbling, grain distribution, etc.); the design of PLC controls
Equipment: Electronic Language (Alfa Astrea) hyperspektral vision system (Head Wall Photonics), visual vision systems, non-destructive mechanical measurement circuit of substances (manual and desk compression, acoustic, ultrasound, etc), viscometer (Haake), near-infrared spectrometres, dielectric measuring instruments (20 Hz - 3 GHz)
Department of Brewing and Distilling
Key research areas: Malt and beer production, brandy and spirits production technology research, fermentation processes, enzyme kinetic characterization, bio-conversion processes, developments supporting modern nutrition, added-value and energy-efficient bioengineering operations
Departmental services: Examination and qualification of traditional and alternative brewing materials, development of malting technologies, optimization of beer production technology for large and small-size plants, product development (traditional, flavoured and special nutritional products), functional food development (raw materials of plant origin), development of technology of spirits and alcoholic beverages, the use of food biotechnology processes, consultancy and quality assurance in all fields
Equipment:: pilot scale brewing plant, starch bioconversion pilot station, mashing device, home-made spirit distilling machine, rectifying column, biofermentors, anaerobic bugbox, HPLC, GC, FPLC, PCR, lyophilizer, spectrophotometers, Alcolyzer beer analyzer, laboratory mashing device, vacuum evaporator, amiloviscograph, rapid distillation apparatus.
FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY AND NUTRITION INSTITUTE
Department of Applied Chemistry
Key research areas: Research on the antioxidant capacity of horticultural and processed products. Development of sample preparation methods; agro-chemical, environmental and food samples to determine the trace element analysis. Inspection and certification of food macro components via NIR / NIT molecular spectroscopy methods. Examining the possibility of determining the origin of various food via mass spectrometry fingerprinting methods.
Departmental services: Chemical, analytical and instrumental testing of food as well as raw materials NAT accredited and other methods chosen by the client. Method development for identifying general, previously un-tested components, qualitative and quantitative determination of pesticides, mycotoxins, sweeteners, anti-oxidant properties, macro components (proteins, fats), micronutrients, etc. Product development for food companies (many years experience in mushroom cultivation, dietary supplements, confectionery, bakery and dairy areas). Professional counseling and education for industrial labs.
Equipment: Total mass spectrometry platform (inorganic / ICP-MS / organic and / ESI QTOFMS ESI-Q3-MS / GC-MS), nuclear and Molecular Systems (ICP-OES, FT-NIR), analytical and preparative scale HPLC system (-UV / VIS, -ICP-MS-MS -ESI).
Department of Food Chemistry and Nutrition
Departmental services: Determination of the composition of food, feed, amino acids, biogenic amines and plant samples using automatic amino acid analyzer. Determination of volatile components using GC-MS method. The measurement of macro- and micro-nutrient content and atomic absorption of toxic heavy metals. Preparation of scanning and transmission electron microscopic images or surfaces on ultrathin sections. Determination of the physical parameters of soil samples, and its nutrient content. Comprehensive chemical analysis of water samples. Analytical measurements: Raw fat (Soxhlet), crude protein (Kjeldahl), moisture content, ash content, iodine number of fat, salt content (Mohr), reduction of sugar (Schoorl), the starch content of cereal flours.
Equipment: Amino acid analyzer (AAA pendular 400). GC-MS system (VG TRIO-2). Atomic absorption spectrophotometer with a graphite (902 GBC). Microwave finding (Milestone MLS 1200). Scanning (Tesla BS 300) and transmission electron microscope (Tesla BS 500). A spectrophotometer (GBC UV / VIS 916). Contiflo analyst apparatus (Labor MIM).
Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology
Key research areas: Examination of food-borne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms. Microbiologic basis for new conservation technologies. Examination of the interaction of microbes.
Departmental services: Detection of pathogens with conventional and rapid microbiological methods; examination of spoilage bacteria from food samples; identification and characterization of microbes via molecular biological methods. Examination of starter cultures. Characterization of yeast biota's wine fermentation processes, determination of the dynamics of fermenting yeast populations. Detection of extra-cellular hydrolytic enzymes production in microbes. Minimum durability date, as well as disinfectant efficacy examinations. Organisation of corporate and other training courses.
Equipment: UV-VIS microscopes and stereos (camera), impedimetric meter (RABIT), MicroTester device. Gradient and real-time PCR. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), the transforming DNA electroporation device.
Department of Postharvest Science and Sensory Evaluation
Key research areas: Development of SmartFresh Quality System application technology on fruits. Modified atmosphere packaging systems validation. Comparative study of washing technologies in horticulture. Efficiency measurement of natural ethylene binders.
Departmental services: Instrumental ratings of fruit and vegetables as well as maturity tests. Definition of optimal harvest times and storage potential of apples and pears. Preparation of controlled atmosphere storage technology according to type. Determination of lower oxygen thresholds. Determination of the optimal delivery of fruits and vegetables in terms of sales. Development of modified atmosphere packaging technology. Optimizing technical and technological parameters of refrigerated storage in relation to horticultural products. Consulting, expert horticultural products storage, transportation, packaging and sale of context.
Equipment: 10 laboratory-scale controlled atmosphere cold storage temperature and atmosphere unique composition of design possibilities. Packaging machines and gas samplers. Chlorophyll fluorescence monitoring system. Acoustic impact and hardness; Etilénmérő; Respiratory intensity measurement; Non-destructive and traditional stock gauges. Water soluble solids content gauges. Temperature and humidity recorders. Color Meters, DA meters.
FOOD TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE
Department of Cereal and Industrial Plants Technology
Departmental services: Cereal samples, examination of flour and other grist samples, qualification. Farinograph and lab graphing examinations. Examination of pastas, oils and fats. Measuring the crystallization and melting features of fats (NMR). Rheological examination of foods (stock assessment, viscometry). Defining the rancidity features of oils and fats (Rancimat method). Accelerated storage experiments. Enzymology examination of cereals and their products. Product development, quality preservation and technology consultancy.
Equipment: Laboratory mill (Labor MIM, Fritsch), gluten washer (Glutomatic), gluten centrifuge, falling number testing (Hagberg), valorigraph, farinograph and Do-corder (Brabender), pasta presses (PAVAN), pasta dryer, margarine crystallizer (Armfield).
Department of Food Economy
Key research areas: Innovative activities and tenders in food industry enterprises from ideas to market research. Preparation of product launches, financing, development of existing production and sales systems. More than three decades of research experience, a large network of domestic and international contacts and a modern methodological background. The department also deals with the economic aspects and marketability of food industry technologies and new products.
Departmental services: Market research, mathematical and statistical analysis of results, research reports (in English, German, Russian and French as well). Writing applications, preparing business plans. Investment and profitability calculations, economic basis of loan applications. Marketing strategy studies. Development of corporate internal accounting and interest systems. Corporate leadership training, decision-making games. Development of strategies on sector levels. Creation and development of commercial and logistics systems.
Equipment: The most modern process simulation software (Anylogic), dynamic system simulation software (Vensim), mathematics-statistics software (R, Origin, PASW-SPSS, Amos).
Refrigeration and Livestock Product Technology Department
Key research areas: Refrigeration of fruits and vegetables, post harvest technology, researching the technology of refrigerating animal and plant derived foods, gentle and combined food-preservation (great hydrostatic pressure, modified atmosphere packaging), sous-vide technology, crio-concentration, non-destructive methods of analysis in product inspection.
Departmental services: Product and technology development, optimization (focusing on gentle and combined methods), storage experiments in tracking quality modification of plant and animal-derived primary materials and products, examining temperature using thermal camera and RFID data collecting system, protein fraction, NIR and calorimetric analysis.
Equipment: High hydrostatic pressure equipment, fluidization and criogen refrigerator, lyophilizator, vacuum refrigerator, vacuum cooker, meat industrial equipment (cutter, filling machine, cooking-smoking box, tumbler), dairy equipment (separator, pasteurizer, churn, cheese vat), preparation equipment (potato abrasive, shredder-slicer, mixer), vacuum packaging, MAP tray packaging, controlled atmosphere chambers, DSC devices, SMS meter portfolio, rotational viscometer, electronic nose, gas analyzers, fluorometer, gas chromatograph with mass spectrophotometer (GC-MS), NIR device, UV and VIS spectrophotometer, Minolta color measuring instruments, gel electrophoresis.
Department of Food Preservation
Key research areas: Analysing processing of new fruit and vegetable raw materials, development of products. Application of natural additives (dyes, solidifiers, preservatives). Investigation of utilization of food-processing by-products, development of non-waste technologies. Rheological characterization of raw materials and finished products. Investigation of non-digestible oligosaccharides. Packaging development and planning.
Departmental services: Product development: fruit and vegetable-based, high biological value, traditional, special quality or handmade products and product lines. Technology development: development of complex, non-waste technologies. Examination of additives. Development of packaging methods. Technology and plant design, HACCP development. Chemical composition and rheological measurements. Product labels, review of product sheets. Preparation of food documentation.
Equipment: Moisture meter, polarimeter, conductivity meter, water activity meter, turbidimeter, hydrometer, Bostwick-meter, nitrite and nitrate measurement, XRF analyzer, HPLC, rotary and oscillating viscometer, stock gauge, fiber determiner, microwave vacuum dryer, evaporator, vacuum cooker, blast chiller, vacuum packager, screw extractor, seeder
OTHER ORGANIZATIONAL UNITS
National Collection of Agricultural and Industrial Microorganisms
Key research areas: Examination of yeast biodiversity in foods and natural habitats.
Traditional phenotypic and molecular biological methods in the modern taxonomic research of yeast. Examination of long-term preservation of microorganisms.
Departmental services: Preservation, DNA-based taxonomic identification and phenotypic characterization of microorganisms.
Equipment: PCR device. Freeze-drying equipment for the preservation of small volume microorganism suspensions. Programmable freezing equipment. Light microscope with fitted camera.