Course
Advanced Food Analysis
9th advanced course on analytical techniques used in compositional analysis of food

Background
Knowledge on the techniques and strategies used for analysis of food is essential in the field of food science and technology. Technological and scientific advances constantly open new ways to analyse the composition, study the structure of individual compounds, or monitor changes of specific constituents in agricultural raw materials, food ingredients, and final food products. Food scientists and technologists active in food research and food industry need to be aware of the established techniques as well as new strategies for food analysis. The course will focus on several commonly used (advanced) techniques and their applications in food analysis.
Course aim
After the course, participants should have a detailed knowledge of the state-of-the-art in food analytical methods, including the possibilities and limitations of commonly used techniques & strategies, and their applications in complex food systems.
Target group
The course is aimed at PhD candidates and young researchers working in food research, as well as scientists from industries involved in food analysis.
Course design
The course will be composed of a series of lectures. The first lectures will establish an understanding of the key techniques (GC, LC, MS, NMR, and other spectroscopies). Subsequently, advanced strategies (e.g. hyphenation, -omics) based on these techniques will be explained. Building on this, opportunities and challenges in the analysis of various classes of major food constituents and small or trace molecules in a wide variety of complex food-related systems will be discussed. This is complemented with demonstrations of applications of food analysis from food research as well as food industry. The participants are also requested to present a poster of their own work within the field of food analysis.
Programme topics
- Gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC)
- Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy
- Mass spectrometry (MS)
- Spectroscopic techniques, e.g. ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) and near-infrared (NIR)
- Transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics
- Binding assays
- Macro-compositional food analysis: proteins, oligo- and polysaccharides, lipids
- Small & trace molecule analysis: phytochemicals, contaminants, toxins
- Molecular sensory science
- Applications of food analysis in research and industry
The preliminary programme will be posted in the download section once it becomes available (latest update 22 May 2023)
Organisation
Course coordinators
- Dr W.J.C. de Bruijn, Food Chemistry, Wageningen University & Research
- Dr G.I.J. Salentijn, Organic Chemistry, Wageningen Food Safety Research , Wageningen University & Research
Other faculty
- Prof H.A. Schols, Food Chemistry, Wageningen University & Research
- Prof J.P.M. van Duynhoven, Unilever R&D and Wageningen University & Research
- Prof J.G.M. Janssen, Unilever R&D and Wageningen University & Research
other faculty to be announced later
Date & duration
The course will be held from 11 - 15 December 2023.
Study load
The study load of this course is 1.4 ECTS credits. Participants will receive 0.6 ECTS extra when presenting a poster.
Language
The course language will be English.
Contact information
For organisational matters please contact
Jochem Jonkman, phone: +31-317-489549 (jochem.jonkman@wur.nl).
More information concerning the content course can be obtained from
Wouter de Bruijn (wouter.debruijn@wur.nl) or Gert Salentijn (gert.salentijn@wur.nl).
Location & accommodation
The course takes place on Wageningen Campus. The town of Wageningen is 5 km from Ede-Wageningen railway station, from which there is a regular bus service to the city centre of Wageningen. The Ede-Wageningen railway station can be reached by train from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in about one hour. For train schedules visit: www.ns.nl.
Hotels:
Other accomodation:
Registration & course fee
You can register for the course at https://event.wur.nl/vlag_afa23/subscribe
The final registration date is 10 November 2023.
Registration will be accepted in the order in which the registration form is received. You will be notified on acceptance of your registration. Additional information will follow afterwards.
The course fee (which includes coffee/tea during breaks, lunches and one dinner but does not cover accommodation) depends on the participant's affiliation:
VLAG/WUR PhD candidates* | € 325 |
All other PhD candidates | € 550 |
Postdocs and staff affiliated with VLAG | € 550 |
All other postdocs and university staff, as well as non-profit organisations | € 825 |
Industry / for-profit organisations | € 2000 |
* VLAG/PE&RC/EPS/WIAS/WASS/WIMEK PhD candidates with an approved TSP
Cancellation policy
After acceptance of your registration, the VLAG Cancellation Conditions for course participants will apply.
The course programme will be posted and communicated about as soon as it becomes available.