Food Chemistry

Food Chemistry is a relatively new science and the development of modern biochemistry has been highly useful for this field. Biochemical problems are often related to enzymes that affect various processes (desirable and undesirable) and the extent to which these take place in the production, processing and storing of food. In this way, we can say that food chemistry is applied biochemistry.

Increased knowledge about chemistry and biochemistry in food and raw materials, as well as to what happens on each stage of the processes, provides us with the possibility to control the processes so that we can make better products with longer shelf life, and reduce the amount of food ending up in the kitchen bin. Producing enough food for an ever increasing population will be a major challenge in years to come.

Norway is the world’s largest net exporter of seafood. Numerous exciting challenges are attached to the research into marine raw materials' biochemistry, chemistry and quality – and how quality changes through processes. Studies of quality changes when using new methods of conservation, as well as new and fast methods for analysis of food are also important challenges. Project assignments and master’s theses will to a large extent be experimental tasks related to these problems.