Fred van de Velde, PhD

Title

Principal scientist

Company

NIZO Food Research

Extracting protein from pulses as sustainable pet food ingredients – Fred van de Velde, PhD, principal scientist with NIZO Food Research, describes results of studies on extracting highly functional protein from different legumes that can be grown on open fields in northwestern Europe and other regions of the world. van de Velde will show the impact of heat treatment and drying conditions on the functionality of pea protein and also how other crops, such as lupin and broad beans, show similar behavior during processing. Like peas, which do not have the highest protein yield per hectare, the other leguminous crops can be used for producing both protein and starch.

van de Velde is group leader in protein functionality and principal scientist of texture perception at NIZO. He has a doctorate in biocatalysis from the Technical University of Delft and 16 years’ experience in food ingredients and proteins, including both dairy and plant proteins. van de Velde’s expertise is on the relationship between the molecular structure of food ingredients, their interactions, microstructure and texture on one hand, and product stability and sensory perception on the other hand. His major interest lies in expanding the use of plant proteins by improving their functional properties and proving the sensory properties of food by understanding the in-mouth behavior of the products. To date, he has published more than 65 research articles, is (co)-inventor of over 10 patent applications and an experienced speaker at various international conferences.