DTU-professor Charlotte Jacobsen has received the AOCS Fellow Award for her research in slowing down the rancidity of omega-3 fatty acids in foods.
Omega-3 fatty acids can become rancid when exposed to oxygen, and this can be problematic when used as an ingredient in foods. Omega-3 fatty acids have a number of health-promoting properties, and it is not harmful to health if the healthy fats become rancid. However, as the taste changes, these foods are often discarded. Therefore, it is of great importance to be able to slow down the rancidity process in food in order to improve the quality of food, preserve the health-promoting properties of fatty acids and prevent food waste.
Professor Charlotte Jacobsen from the DTU National Food Institute has researched this topic for almost three decades and for that work she has just received The American Oil Chemists' Society, AOCS Fellow Award. The award will be presented at the opening ceremony of the AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo on 1 May 2022 in Atlanta.
Charlotte Jacobsen has, among other things, been president and vice president of AOCS 'European Section' and as chairman of the 'Lipid Oxidation and Quality Division', she helped to promote a collaborative and supportive culture for students, academics and industry, AOCS states.
The new president for AOCS, Silvana Martini, professor Charlotte Jacobsen with the
AOCS Fellowship Award and the departing president for AOCS Phillip Kerr.
Read, watch and listen more
Watch the video about this year's winners. Charlotte Jacobsen starts approx. 2.21 minutes into the video.
2022 AOCS Fellow Award Winners - YouTube
Read more about the price on AOCS 'website
Charlotte Jacobsen is head of The Research Group for Bioactives - Analysis and Application which produces knowledge that can improve food quality and the oxidation stability of food, as well as increase the population's intake of healthy foods that are rich in vitamins, healthy lipids and proteins. The group's research is also used to develop ingredients from previously unused resources.
Read more about the group's research on the department's website or hear Charlotte Jacobsen talk about the research in a podcast at DTU Techfolk:
Seaweed, algae and sea sausages - your menu will change in a few years or in a podcast from the Danish Independent Research Foundation, where she talks about
microalgae as the protein source of the future. (Both in Danish)
The latest knowledge on ways to extract, produce and protect health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids is also presented in a handbook from Elsevier's publishers, edited by Charlotte Jacobsen and colleagues from her research group. Read about the book, which was published in July 2021, in a news item from the DTU Food Institute:
Handbook with the latest knowledge about omega-3 fatty acids.