New technology co-developed by a University of Otago researcher is about to make a major dent in the world’s food-waste crisis.
Food science Professor Indrawati Oey has spent the past two years designing a new meat chamber for pulsed electric field (PEF) food-processing technology.
PEF technology was invented in 1960, but until recently it was able to process only liquid products such as juice and milk, and solids like potatoes.
However, with Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment funding, Prof Oey has been able work with German companies Elea and German Institute of Food Technologies to develop and build a PEF machine that can process meat.
And now, it is operating in Dunedin.
"This equipment is the only piece of its kind in the world.
"It’s awesome for us to have this technology in Dunedin," she said.
Prof Oey said the process had major advantages to conventional food-processing, ranging from pasteurising foods at lower temperatures, or even replacing the parboiling part of potato processing in the fries industry.
She said the new machine could process up to 10kg of meat in a couple of seconds.
"This technology allows us to enhance the release of the flavour and bioactive compounds which makes the food taste better.
"We can tenderise meat or change the quality of meat from a low-value cut to top steak-quality cuts.
"It means no chemicals are needed to enhance the flavour.
"We do not need things like MSG. This technique is a purely natural process."
Putting grapes through the machine could also reduce the maceration process in wine-making.
It meant grape skins would only need to soak in grape juice for one to two days instead of the usual 14 days, she said.
"The overarching purpose of this equipment is to reduce food waste.
"It means we can use all of the components that come from the farms.
"And importantly, it saves a lot on energy and water compared to conventional processing."
She declined to say how much the machine cost to build, other than to say it was not cheap.
Now it is up and running, students were being trained to operate it, it was being used for more research, and for giving demonstrations to the food production industry, she said.
