Aquatic Resources for Food and Health Industries

Our research focuses on the use of aquatic resources for human nutrition and the identification of substances from marine resources (such as algae, clams, fishery by-products) for the production of novel, sustainable foods. From aquatic ingredients to finished products, we develop high-quality and safe foods for healthy and sustainable consumption.

• Analysis and assessment of marine resources
• Development of food-technology processes (e.g., extraction and fermentation for use of macroalgae)
• Expertise on the use of fish by-products and other aquatic by-products
• Development of cell-based products (cultured/cell based meat and fish)

Metabolic studies in farm animals determine the level of pesticide residues and are required when a pesticide is used on agricultural crops whose parts or products are used to produce food of animal origin. Due to the increasing proportion of plant-based raw materials in aquaculture diets, metabolism studies are required for (freshwater) fish such as rainbow trout or carp. The Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME has established a test system for carrying out fish metabolism studies.

• Experiments can be performed under static or flow conditions in large tank units (2 m³)
• All tanks are equipped with a strong filter system to prevent accumulation of dissolved test substances and excreted metabolites in the water during metabolic studies and to allow for the consideration of radioactivity in the flow
• Fulfills quality and safety requirements for pesticide registration studies using 14C-labeled substances

The focus here is on characterizing and optimizing products from aquatic resources, or more precisely, consumers and their sensory perception: Product characteristics such as aroma, taste, texture and feel have a decisive influence on a purchasing decision. To measure product perception as a whole, sensory effects in products are investigated, aromas are characterized and identified, and the causes of off-flavors and unwanted odors are explained.

With many years of expertise, the experienced researchers at Aquaculture@Fraunhofer have the necessary know-how to successfully advance the development of new products and the optimization of existing ones. We are now supplementing our scientific and application-oriented expertise in the area of analytical sensors with new technological methods and intelligent systems. By using sensors, data- and model-based algorithms as well as artificial intelligence, we now offer our customers faster and more efficient solutions for the assessment and validation of sensory variables.

• Support for new product development
• Optimization of existing products
• Human sensory characterization of foods and raw materials according to DIN standards
• Identification of off-flavors and unwanted aromas through gas chromatography (GC-MS/O, GC-O) and online analytical methods (PTR-MS, PTR-TOF-MS)
• Development of monitoring systems for the continuous analysis of volatile compounds
• Investigation of multisensory perceptual processes during product presentation
• Consumer behavior and product acceptance studies

• Several gas chromatographs for the analysis of volatile compounds and aromas (GC-O, GC-MS/O, GC-IMS)
• Electronic tongue
• Sensors and sensor systems based on infrared and metal oxide semiconductors
• Proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS)
• Proton transfer time-of-flight spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS)
• Trained sensor panels for food and texture
• Olfactometer
• Multidimensional gas chromatography systems for identification of volatile compounds in complex matrices (TD-GCxGC-TOF-MS, 2D-GC-MS/O)
• Fast and hyper-fast gas chromatography for high sample throughput