The Food Science Graduate Program studies the application of biological, chemical, engineering, and physical principles to the conversion of raw agricultural products into processed foods suitable for human consumption, the nature of foods, the causes of deterioration, the principles underlying food processing, and the improvement of food quality for public consumption.

The Food Science Study Program is especially designed to graduate knowledgeable and research experienced Master and Doctor in food science. They

are projected to have competency in solving the problems in the areas of food science and technology, such as in the improvement of existing and development of new food products that meet the consumer's demand, altering the nutrient of foods, producing safe and nutritious foods, modifying food components for food application, finding indigenous new materials or ingredients, etc.

The graduate program is opened for prospective local and overseas fresh graduate students, researchers, lecturers, and food industry representatives who have backgrounds in natural sciences.

Areas of Specialization

Graduate students may specialize in food chemistry, food microbiology and biotechnology, food biochemistry and human nutrition, and food process engineering. The description and several research areas of each specialization are described as follows:

•  Food Chemistry

Food chemistry covers the basic composition, structure, physicochemical and functional properties of foods and the chemistry of changes occurring during processing and utilization. It also deals with the isolation and identification of bioactive compound, modification of chemical structure of food components, and the principles, methods, and techniques necessary to quantify the chemical composition of food products and ingredients.

Students specialized food chemistry may conduct the following research areas:

• Isolation, identification, and characterization of indigenous food components, such as flavor components, hydrocolloid, antioxidant, protein, and bioactive compounds.
• Modification of functional properties of lipid, carbohydrate, and protein for food applications
• Maillard reaction mechanism, lipid degradation, and carotenoid.
• The changes of physicochemical and functional properties of food components (nutrients, anti-nutritional factors, toxin and bioactive compound) during processing.
• Isolation, identification and characterization of flavour component and their chemical/ biochemical formation in foods,
• Development of natural and artificial flavor, and flavor retention and changes during food processing and storage.
• Characterization of sensory properties of food components and its relationship with food flavor.
• Measurements of flavor interactions with food components and packaging materials, and flavor release in food systems.

•  Food Microbiology and Biotechnology

Food microbiology involves the study of microbial ecology related to foods, the effect of environment on food safety, food spoilage and food manufacture, the physical, chemical and biological destruction of microorganisms in foods, control of safety and quality of food stuff, exploration of antimicrobial substances from biological sources and investigation of foodborne outbreaks.While food biotechnology involves the application of genetic engineering, fermentation, and cell culture on the production of food components. It also covers the separation technique of biotechnology products.

Students specialized food microbiology and biotechnology may conduct the following research areas:

• The use of lactic acid bacteria as food preservatives
• The production of flavors, colorants, enzymes and polysaccharides by specific microbes.
• The activity of herb and spices as antimicrobes
• Development of the detection methods of food-borne pathogens.
• Effect of sanitarian agent on the production of adherent bacteria
• Microbial study aspects of food safety and how to control it
• The application of fermentation and enzymatic techniques on the production of protease, omega-3 fatty acids, flavor components, colorants, monoclonal antibody, lysine, and polysaccharide
• The application of cell culture technique in the production of antioxidant
• Genetic engineering of microbe producing protease and nuclease.
• Separation technique of fermented ester components
• Enzymatic modification of lipid to produce emulsifier, cocoa butter substitute and food supplement
• Characterization of lipase and protease enzymes
• Isolation and characterization of microbial enzyme, and its application in food industry
• Enzyme and biological molecular
• The physiology, genetics, and applications of yeast and lactic acid bacteria used in food and beverage fermentation
• Development of technologies to inhibit microorganisms of public health concern,
• Development of fermented and probiotic foods
• Production of primary and secondary metabolites (pigment, fat, polysaccharide)
• Isolation and characterization of antimicrobial and its application in food processing and preservation
• Biofilm of bacteria in relation to adherence properties.

•  Food Biochemistry and Nutrition

Food biochemistry and nutrition involves the study to understand how processing or storage might chemically affects the nutritional value of foods and their biochemistry in human body (in vivo/in vitro). It also involves the study of basic and applied aspects of biochemistry on the toxicity and antinutritional factors of food components and how to control, metabolisms of macro and micro ingredients in human body, molecular biology and immunology of food components.

Students specialized food biochemistry and nutrition may conduct the following research areas:

• Immunology of food components
• Toxicity and antinutritional factors of food components
• Effects of indigenous spices on cell proliferation
• The effects of dietary fiber on human health
• Nutritional evaluation of food components and its relationship to the human intellectuality
• Analysis of allergen and anti-allergen of foods,
• Interaction of nutrition and toxic component of foods
• Production of health/anti-cancer foods
• Evaluation of food nutrition

•  Food Process Engineering

Food process engineering covers characteristics of raw food materials, principles of food preservation and processing factors that influence food quality. It also involves study of engineering principles and unit operations used in food processing, such as material and energy balances, thermodynamics, fluid flow, and heat and mass transfer. It also covers management and entrepreneurship in food industrial system.

Students specialized food biochemistry and nutrition may conduct the following research areas:

• Optimization of supercritical fluid extraction
• Characterization of physical properties of food components
• Application of modified atmosphere storage for food commodity
• The development of minimally processed food technology
• Development of food processing technology, such as extrusion, freeze drying, aseptic process,
• Development of dairy, meat, fruit and vegetable processing technology.
• Formulation of supplemented and fortified food products
• Modeling and management of information system
• Strategic development in food industry and decision making method
• Quality management system in food industries
• Marketing study of food products and ingredients
• Study on the incubation system of small scale food industries
• Dairy, meat, fruit, vegetable processing
• Development of value-added food products based on indigenous resource
• Various processing technology as a means of food preservation, sensory evaluation, development of functional foods, and water relation.
• Food rheology
• Identification of valuable co-products from food processing streams
• Modification of ingredient functionality by thermal treatments.

Matriculation Program

Curriculum

The curriculum of food science graduate program covers the following courses areas: advanced food chemistry, food biochemistry, food physics, food analysis, food processing and engineering, food microbiology, food fermentation, nutrition, toxicology, and food safety. The course work will be tailored to a large degree toward a student's specific interest; however, core courses are required for all Master and Doctoral students in the major areas as listed under degree requirements. In addition to core courses, there are various elective courses that can be taken in accordance with student interest in the areas of applicable aspects of the agricultural sciences, human nutrition, food chemistry, agricultural products processing, food additives, food preparation and packaging, food storage, and related aspects of human health and safety including toxicology and pathology.

Students gain the knowledge from lectures, practical classes in laboratory, and research projects. Students are also encouraged to the development of written and oral communication skills through course work, seminars and group meeting presentations. For graduation, a minimum of 37 hours of credit for Master Program and 40 hours of credit for Doctorate program are required. A Master program requires 2-3 years for completion. For doctorate degree, candidates may complete their study for 4-4.5 years after Master degree and a certain minimum residency is required for a qualifying examination, a preliminary (thesis proposal) examination and a final (thesis defense) examination. Additional information related to the plan of study for both Master and Doctorate degrees can be found in the Graduate School Web Page.

Research Facilities

Graduate students have access to research laboratory facilities in our Department and Center for Food and Nutrition Study , including food chemistry laboratory, food microbiology laboratory, food biochemistry and human nutrition laboratory, food processing and engineering laboratory, sensory laboratory and Agricultural Product Processing Pilot Plant (AP4). The laboratories contain sophisticated analytical equipment, such GC, GC-MS, HPLC, DI-MS, DSC, AAS, NMR analyzer, Electrophoresis, Ultra filtration, Polarization Microscopes, Rheometer, Stevens LFRA Gel Tester, fluorometer, rheology equipments (texturometer, viscometer, texture analyzer, Brabender viscograph, Farinograph, Extensograph), colorimeter, double beam spectrophotometer UV-Vis, freeze drier. The Department is facilitated by pilot plants with various food processing equipment, such as thermal processing line, bakery procssing line, meat processing line, starch extraction line, noodle processing line, oil extraction line, sugar extraction line, tea line, tofu line, fermentor, extruder, ice cream maker, drum drier, spray drier, tunnel drier, automated fluidized bed drier, vacuum frier, and supercritical fluid extractor. Students have also opportunity to access research facilities in other centers/institutions, such as Center for Food Nutrition Study, Nutrition Research and Development Center , and Puspiptek Serpong, Balai Besar Industri Agro, LIPI, etc.

Graduate students may explore many diverse interests at academic library in Central Library, Food Science Library at Center for Food and Nutrition Study, and Agricultural Technology Information Center at Faculty of Agricultural Technology. The libraries collect latest textbooks (ISBN), international peer-reviewed journals and journal abstract (FSTA) in the area of food science, technology and human nutrition.

Selection of Major Supervisor and Advisory Committee Members

Each student should select major supervisor for research project at the first year of graduate work. The supervisor should represent the academic areas required for successful completion of the student's work. With the direction of major supervisor, student may also select on advisory committee members. Additional information on the procedure of selection of supervisor and advisory committee members may be found in the Graduate School Web Page .

The Dissertation

The topic of the dissertation must be approved by the student's major supervisor and advisory committee members. The student conducts the research and prepares the dissertation under the direction of the major supervisor. Students are required to have a minimum of 6 and 12 credits hours of research and dissertation for Master and Doctorate degrees respectively.

Scholarships

There are potential scholarships that students may apply. The number and type of scholarship from government and private companies are available for students. The scholarships are usually awarded on a competitive basis and require superior academic performance. Research support is especially obtained from governmental institutions, such as Hibah Bersaing (HB) , Riset Unggulan Terpadu (RUT) , Hibah Tim Pasca Sarjana, Basic Research, URGE Grant for Young Scientist, ARMP, etc. Several institutions also offer scholarship, such as Toyota Astra Foundation, Bung Hatta Foundation, Toray Foundation, Kalbe Farma , IFS, Ford Foundation, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), etc. Other research support can be awarded to postgraduate students undertaking projects of value to the particular industry or organization. Closing dates for project proposals vary according to the organization. Prospective applicants will need to liaise with the academic staff member involved in the project before they apply for the scholarship. Additional information on scholarships may be found in the Graduate School Web Page .

Career Prospects

After graduation, graduate students are prepared for scientific and technical careers in industry, educational institutions, government agencies and health care facilities. The potential careers of Food Science graduates are in food industries or governmental institutions. They can work as researchers or consultant in the areas of food science and technology as well as lecturers in universities. Our tracer study showed that 96.4% of graduate students (Master and Doctorate) students have had jobs prior to enrolling as graduate students. Most of them are Faculty members or researchers in various institutions (85.7%). Sixty one percent of the graduates work closely in food science study program and the rest work in the food related sector.

The industrial-based society seems to be shifted into knowledge-based society thus more industries are expected to require professional staff members with Master or even Doctoral qualification. A rigorous curriculum evaluation needs to be carried out to meet the expectation of food industries for high quality Master/Doctoral graduates.