Department of Fruit and Vegetable Processing

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Introduction

The Department has been a recognised centre of higher education and vocational training in Hungary for many decades. Its legal predecessor is the Budapest, VI. Izabella u. 46., Budapest, was the Department of Canning Technology of the Higher Food Industry Technical College, operating from 1969 to 1970. In 1970, the Higher Food Technology Institute joined the then College of Horticulture, thus the Faculty of Preservation Technology of the University of Horticulture was established, of which our department became a part. It continued its activities until 2021 under the name of the Department of Preservation Technology, and since then it has been operating under the name of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, Department of Fruit and Vegetable Processing Technology, Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

In addition to teaching the classical canning techniques (heat treatment, drying, evaporation, pH reduction, combined preservation methods, etc.), our department is also involved in teaching students about food additives and packaging materials, plant installation and organisation, as well as indulgent, innovative technologies (e.g. vacuum drying, aseptic processes, microwave and PEF treatments).

Education

The department is involved in the full-time and correspondence general and specialised training of food engineers and of bioengineers (BSc and MSc). It is responsible for the Preservation Technology and Quality specialization at BSc level and it is an active contributor in the PhD programme in Food Science. Our department also organizes and coordinates the Fruit and Vegetable Processing Specialist Engineer and Specialist Consultant.

Research
  • Development of special quality handmade products and product family with high antioxidant content and traditional functional properties
  • Examination of the suitability of new fruit species and varieties for preservation, and the evaluation of the products made from them
  • Development of drying, vacuum drying and microwave drying technologies
  • Development of complex, waste-free processing technologies
  • Optimization of technological operations in a function of the quality of the finished product
  • Planning of small and medium-sized fruit and vegetables processing technologies and factories
  • Examination of the rheological properties of texture modifiers and their technological application (vegetable and fruit products, canned meat)
  • Development of food packaging procedures for various raw and processed foods in order to extend the shelf life, taking into account the interactions between the packaging material and the packaged foods
  • The relationship between packaging technology and environmental protection
  • Practical usability of new types of active, recyclable, degradable foils
  • Consumer-centric food packaging design

Services
  • Development of special quality handmade products and product family with high biological value and traditional functional properties
  • Development of complex, waste-free technologies
  • Examination of food additives
  • Development of packaging methods
  • Planning of technologies and factories, development of HACCP
  • Measurement of internal content and rheological properties
  • Revision of product labels and product sheets
  • Preparation of novel food documents
  • Measurement of nutritional content with spectrophotometric and HPLC methods
  • Examination of the rheological characteristics of raw materials, semi-finished and finished products in the food industry using rotation and oscillation methods
  • Classification of finished products based on the Hungarian Food Book
  • Development of production sheets
  • Revision of product labels, preparation of labels based on current legislation

Instruments
  • Texture measuring instrument (Brookfield, LFRA 4500 Texture Analyzer)
  • Bostwick consistometer
  • Digital density meter
  • Rapid moisture meter (RADWAG MAC-50)
  • HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatograph, Shimadzu)
  • Rotation and oscillation viscometer (MCR 51 Physica, Anton-Paar)
  • RQ flex nitrite-nitrate meter (MERCK)
  • X-ray spectrometer DELTA "Premium" XRF (Innov-X DELTA)
  • Digital colour meter (KONICA MINOLTA CR-400)
  • Turbidimeter (HACH 2100P, HACH LANGE GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany)
  • Water activity measuring instrument (Novasina Labmaster-aw)
  • IKA RV 10 Control rotary vacuum evaporator (IKA-Werke GmbH&Co.KG, Staufen, Germany)