Section I: Sensory Systems Chemistry
Section I investigates the composition of foods and their metabolism (ASSESSMENT). The aim of the work in this section is to elucidate the molecular composition of foods and to develop innovative (high-throughput) analytical concepts in order to determine the influence of raw materials (breeding, cultivation, (a)biotic stress, feeding, alternative raw materials, by-product utilization), technological processing conditions, storage, and metabolic processes in the human organism on the sensory and nutritional quality (e.g., aroma/taste compounds, bioactive micronutrients) of foods and to be able to predict this in the future.
Research Group: Food Systems Chemistry
The Food Systems Chemistry research group (focus: non-volatile, low-molecular effectors) decodes and characterizes, based on structure-effect relationships using sensomics, metabolomics, high-throughput quantification and food/natural product chemistry techniques. This generates flavor/food databases, develops new food systems, and optimizes food quality parameters.
Prof. Dr. Corinna Dawid
Head of Section I,
Head of Research Group & Scientific Director
Email: c.dawid.leibniz-lsb(at)tum.de
Tel.: +49 8161 71-2901
Research Group: Aroma Chemistry
The Aroma Chemistry research group (focus: volatile effectors) is concerned with the molecular clarification of volatile, odor-relevant effector systems in food, their biosynthesis in raw materials, their precursors and changes along the value chain, and the clarification of structure-activity relationships in food. This enables, among other things, changes in the aroma profile during primary production, processing, and storage to be investigated, causes of off-notes to be identified, and solutions to be developed.
Dr. Veronika Mall
Senior Researcher
Research Group: Transcriptome & Proteome Profiling
The Transcriptome & Proteome Profiling research group (focus: transcriptomics) develops and uses microarray synthesis/analysis methods to investigate the spatial transcriptome of plants and chemoreceptor-bearing cells of the digestive tract in order to characterize the effects of active substances depending on food production and processing. It develops DNA- and RNA-based methods for tracing, authenticating, and monitoring food during storage and transport.
Research Group: Food Biopolymer Chemistry
The research group (RG) Food Biopolymer Chemistry (focus: non-volatile, high-molecular effectors and cereals) clarifies the complex interplay between structure, functionality, chemosensory and biological activity of food proteins and peptides in active substance networks. To this end, the RG combines high-end food analysis methods with the determination of functionality and bioactivity in order to improve food safety and quality.
