Prof. Alexander Mathys in Focus
The complexity of the food value chain of insects and algae came into focus at an ETH Alumni event on 25 April featuring WFSC member Prof. Mathys, Sustainable Food Processing, and doctoral student Lukas Böcker. Also, the doors to the research laboratory of the group were opened for an ETH Student Association (VSETH) Polykum magazine article.
A group of about 100 alumni gathered in the main building of ETH to hear about the research of Prof. Alexander Mathys. In the keynote lecture, "Algae and Insects-Protein sources of the future?", Mathys along with doctoral student Lukas Böcker told the audience of the energy balance of food production and the need to innovate to provide enough calories for the growing world population. Insects will soon be allowed for sale as food here in Switzerland, and Mathys’s group looks to innovate processing and to quantify the sustainability of this “new” protein source for food and feed. Böcker further introduced the innovations in the production of micro-algae. Mathys’s final thought was that his group looks to bring their research into our everyday lives. To do so, he relies strongly on colloboration with numerous education and industry partners.
WFSC Executive Director Michelle Grant and Andreas Buchmann from Bühler then joined the podium for an interesting discussion. Topics emerging included the media “hype” of insects entering the marketplace, the innovation needed to produce insects for food in a sustainable way, and the complexity of the issue that is at the crossroads of research, industrial production, and consumer needs and desires.
The article in the VSETH Polykum magazine explores the laboratory of Prof. Mathys: from a generator that can apply a electric field to create pores in cell membranes to a “mini” milk processing line.
Read the full Polykum article here (2016/2017, No. 7 Horizant, p. 15-16) (in German).
The WFSC Flagship project focusing on the topic of novel uses of alternative proteins for feed and food has gotten underway with Prof. Alexander Mathys signing on as the Principal Investigator, in collaboration with nine different WFSC member groups. The first workshop to establish collaboration took place in January 2017, and efforts are now underway to secure funding to build the initiative.