Department of Carbohydrates and Cereals

Research at the Department is devoted to new techniques of isolation, preparation and special analysis of sugars in cereals, cereal foods, confections, products from starch and sugar industry and also many agricultural raw materials. It involves a development of modern methods for isolation of β-glucans and study of polysaccharide structure, which is of considerable importance for production of modern coagulants and derivatives. An attention is also paid to better utilization of food raw materials, waste and by-products, application of membrane and chromatographic techniques for separation and isolation of valuable compounds and their further use as, e.g., biodegradable plastics (utilization of polysaccharides for food and non-food applications) or prebiotics (lactose) components. The Department collaborates with industrial partners on monitoring of food quality and the application of HACCP. The department’s staff is also involved in the development of database of food raw material, by-product and final product properties (mathematical models of process and technology management).

Current research topics and areas of expertise

Technological processes simulation, modeling and balance calculation
Database of sugar and ethanol solutions properties, development of equations and computer programs for calculation of physical properties
Crystallization from solutions: computer control of technological processes
Metastable zone determination by ultrasonic technique
Computer Image Analysis application in carbohydrate technologies
Development of new procedures for carbohydrate isolation: membrane nano- and ultrafiltration, continuous chromatographic process
Biofuels from carbohydrates: non-waste production of ethanol and sucrose production
Photo-catalytic degradation of impurities in wastewaters from food industry
Application of ultrasound in food technologies
Carbohydrates and other grain components analysis
Spectroscopic and thermal analysis of polysaccharides and their derivatives
Food fiber in cereals, non-traditional cereals application
Rheology and mechanical properties of dough and fillings
Methods of cereal raw materials and products quality control
Nutritional evaluation of cereals
Application of the HACCP system in milling and baking facilities
Preparation of different forms of materials prepared from polysaccharides and testing of their properties
Application of physical methods in analysis of food raw materials and products
Starch derivatives – preparation and analytics
Physico-chemical analysis of chocolate and confectionery products
Re-use and further processing of by-products from carbohydrate technologies
Application of a laboratory single-screw extruder for development of new food and non-food materials

Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology

Since the formation of the independent Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague (now University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague) in 1952, the Faculty has grown into an institution with a broad background in chemical, biochemical, engineering, and other disciplines, which illustrates the purposefulness of such a strong chemical-technological complex and the FFBT as its inseparable part—even on the international scale. The Faculty ranks among leading university centres of food science. In the course of its existence, the Faculty has turned out thousands of graduates who pursue their careers primarily in the food industry and related fields, in scientific research, and at schools and institutions of higher learning both in the Czech Republic and abroad.