Quakenbrück - During his visit in August 2024, the German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture discussed the role of food science in the transformation process of the agricultural and food sectors. The talks centered on current challenges and forward-looking solutions for the food of tomorrow. Education, research, and the transfer of knowledge and technology are crucial.
Among the guests at the DIL were District Administrator Anna Kebschull and other representatives from politics, the DIL Supervisory Board, cooperating universities, colleges, companies, networks, and start-ups.
The talks were complemented by a poster exhibition and a tour of the research institute. Institute Director Dr. Volker Heinz, as well as scientists and representatives from cooperation projects, informed the Federal Minister about the site development and current research initiatives - including numerous initiatives funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). For example, research work is focusing on new ways of processing and using alternative, and above all regional, sources of protein and fat, as well as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in quality assurance.
After the official welcome by District Administrator Kebschull, Federal Minister Özdemir spoke about the prospects and importance of food science: “We need to reorganise our global agricultural and food systems so that we can continue to produce safe and good harvests in 10, 20, and 50 years’ time and ensure an environment worth living in. Science has an important role to play in this further development of agricultural and food systems towards greater sustainability. Germany has strong disciplinary research - as the German Science and Humanities Council recently confirmed for the BMEL. However, there is also potential for improvement, for example, more interdisciplinary research and the further development of funding structures. These recommendations are aimed at the entire research community with all its many, indispensable facets. We need an open discussion about this and are happy to play an active role in shaping it. We need input from strong research in the agricultural, food, and nutritional sciences to make good policy.”
Institute Director Heinz said: “The DIL has developed into the Northern German center of food science through its research work and collaborations - most recently also in the field of university education with the international Master's degree program." The continuation of this success story depends largely on a strong research infrastructure.”
In this context, Institute Director Dr. Heinz pointed out the need to embed nutrition sustainably in the global carbon and nitrogen cycles. He referred to the research network ZERN - Future of Nutrition in Lower Saxony, which is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and pursues important questions on the transformation of nutrition using a system-oriented approach. The joint project is being funded with 9 million euros over 5 years.
Researchers from the DIL and cooperating institutes and companies then presented their work on posters. Various questions were explored, such as: Can proteins for human nutrition be extracted from grasses? Or: How can the smallest molecules be extracted from animal and plant foods? And what added health value do these micro- and nanostructures offer?
Start-ups - key players in knowledge and technology transfer - were also represented: Julius gr. Macke's Larvae Solutions GmbH from Addrup is involved in the field of insect breeding and wants to establish insects as a sustainable source of nutrients for animals and humans. The Quakenbrück-based start-up Frudist, represented by the two managing directors Alica Lammerskitten and Dr Oleksii Parniakov, produces and markets freeze-dried fruit from regional cultivation and with a small CO2 footprint.
During the subsequent tour, Özdemir first learnt about the BMEL-funded Movi-Q project. Jens Schröder and his automation technology team vividly explained how AI helps to recognise damaged areas on natural products - bruises on vegetables, for example, or fat content in meat products - and initiate further processing steps. This not only reduces the workload of employees, but also significantly reduces food waste.
Reducing waste is also one of the aims of the EU FOX project, in which a container for the mobile utilisation of fruit and vegetables was developed. Dr Kemal Aganovic, head of the Advanced Technologies department, explained that the unit can process up to 500 kg of fresh biomass into juice per hour. As part of the ZERN programme, the DIL is now investigating how efficiently this container can be used in the processing of grassland biomass directly at the producer's premises; the keyword here is protein extraction.
How and to what extent do tiny plastic particles, known as microplastics, end up in drinking water and food? Dr Andreas Juadjur and Dr Xiaoai Guo are researching this at the Centre for Food Physics. In the long term, the research work should help to ensure that less plastic ends up in our food during processing, storage and transport.
The final visit to the “Proteins of the Future” technology centre focused on plant proteins and fats. According to Dr Volker Lammers, Head of the Process Engineering Department, the refinement of little-used or previously unused sources of protein, such as pulses like alfalfa or bitter lupins, could offer the domestic food industry interesting market opportunities. The scientists are currently investigating how high-quality protein can be obtained from the plants and processed further in several joint projects funded by the BMEL.
Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir was impressed by the research infrastructure available in Quakenbrück and the commitment in the areas of training, research and knowledge and technology transfer. He emphasised: “The DIL is a driver of innovation that takes a holistic view of the food production process today and develops solutions for the food of tomorrow.”
