Queretaro, Mexico, Jul. 11 (Notimex).- The Postgraduate area of the Faculty of Chemistry of the Autonomous University of Querétaro (UAQ, for its acronym in Spanish) works in the development of foods, from the use of by-products or residues of an industrial process.
The academic unit´s professor, Marcela Gaytán Martínez, explained that this research is derived from the information provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, for its acronym in Spanish), which states that a third of the Food is lost during processing or postharvest in the industry.
As a result, the researcher said that the university students were given the task of contacting the industrial sector, so that three companies from Guanajuato donated their food waste to carry out the research.
Student Sarahí Rodríguez González, Ph.D. in Food Sciences, develops “Fiber cubes, mango flavor”, which is a food bar divided into three cubes, because people sometimes do not eat the whole thing all at once, and rather save some for “later”.
University student Daniela Flores Zavala, from the Master’s degree in Food Science and Technology, makes the “Gomi Gamix” mango gum, which seeks to avoid obesity in children, as it is a high-fiber treat.
Carlos Vladimir López Rodríguez, of the same master, creates “Coffies”, cookies of coffee fiber, that are sugar free and with high fiber content.
Gaytán Martínez said that postgraduate students have to develop and test the effect of their products in health, in order to improve them and perfect them if it is the case, for which they have a period of one year.
“The development of these foods is derived from the industrial sector, that is, from the residues arising from industrial processes. Now, we will work on the improvement of these different projects, to make sure they are low in calories and contribute nutrients, preferably to be high in fiber as well ,” explained the college professor.
She pointed out that the idea is that once the products have been concluded, they will be offered to the same companies and this will demonstrate that new edible goods can be developed from this waste, without incurring a cost of processing, because with what they pay to take their waste, they can generate new foods.
Source: http://www.notimex.gob.mx
