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Bio Katharina PÄLCHEN

While my passion for food goes back into my early years of life, my professional journey into the food cosmos started in 2011 with my bachelor’s degree in Food Technology at the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences in Germany. Being taught the scientific, mathematical and engineering fundamentals, I started applying those at the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority in 2015. I worked on the establishment of molecular biological detection methods used for governmental food monitoring focusing on plant food stuffs. The established insights and experiences, emerged into a personal eagerness to provide not only tasty, but healthy and safe food. Motivated to explore innovative ways to contribute to a sustainable food system, I moved to Wageningen to continue my studies and opted for a MSc degree focusing on food composition and ingredient functionality. The investigation of circular economy practices in the context of food systems during my master thesis and the dive into plant-based foods and nutrition from a product management and R&D perspective within my internship at the Döhler GmbH in Germany gave me the opportunity to work on different aspects of sustainability.

Being part of FOODENGINE allows me to combine my passion for sustainability and sciences with my profession and merge them by unlocking the potential of plant-based foods. Furthermore, the programme combines a versatile range of aspects, such as the exchange of multi-disciplinary knowledge and state-of-the art technology within an international network, in one. Within my PhD research, I will investigate the impact of post-harvest storage and thermal processing on the texture and digestion of legume-based foods (ESR 4) at KU Leuven under the supervision of Prof. Tara Grauwet. The project aims to study the influence of legume cell structural features and how these are determine by post-harvest storage and thermal processing. My PhD research allows me to connect aspects of environmental sustainability and human health by using an engineering approach to study food digestion of legumes. In collaboration with FOOD-UCPH, I will further link food quality aspects to consumer preferences, acceptance and needs. Greenyard Prepared will support the project from an industrial side.

Do you have any questions to be answered? Or you want to learn more about my research, I am happy to hear from you. Feel free to contact me by email (show email).