Apart from his position at the DIL as head of the research platform biotechnology, Dr. rer. nat. Christian Hertel will also be working as an associate professor in the Biology/Chemistry Department of the University of Osnabrück.

Christian Hertel received his PhD from the Department of Microbiology at the Technical University Munich. He received his postdoctoral lecture qualification from the Institute of Food Technology at the University of Hohenheim. Following positions in Hohenheim as associate professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and senior associate scientist at the Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, he came to the German Institute of Food Technologies in Quakenbrück in 2008.

At DIL, Dr. Hertel is heading the research platform biotechnology which is dealing with topics from the fields of white/industrial and blue/marine biotechnology. These fields are expected to produce food production innovations in the future. Main emphasis is placed on innovations which do not just contribute to an increased efficiency but also to the development of new products or the establishing of environmentally sound processes and with that to sustainability.

Priority is given to fermentative and chemical processes which shall be optimized with the use of microorganisms and enzymes. The use of new microorganisms, for example non-Saccharomyces yeasts for the creation of sensory properties of fermented food or for the biotechnological production of flavors, is highlighted. In the field of functional food, the research focus is currently placed on the encapsulation of probiotics. In the field of starter cultures, the topic is not just the establishing of new starter cultures with new, additional functionalities but also the control of the fermentation of gluten-free cereals and pseudo cereals for the functionalization of sourdoughs made with these raw materials. One of the key issues in marine biotechnology is the research of the pressure-depending structure-function relation of proteins from maritime microorganisms and their biotechnological exploitation.

The inaugural lecture of Dr. Hertel on 17 December in Osnabrück is titled: “Exploitation of the adaptive response of lactobacilli in food fermentation for the optimization of starter cultures”.