Contact
Department of Bioresource Engineering
Macdonald Campus, McGill University
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec H9X 3V9
Tel.: 514-398-7680
Fax: 514-398-8387
valerie [dot] orsat [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Dr. Orsat)
Profile
Dr. Valérie Orsat is an assistant professor in the Department of Bioresource Engineering at the Macdonald Campus of McGill University. She obtained her PhD degree from McGill University in 1999. From 1999 to 2007, Dr. Orsat coordinated the training activities of international developmental projects in postharvest engineering. First in China with the project “Microwave processing in China” and then in India with the project "Consolidation of Food Security in South India". Both projects were funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Research Interest
Dr. Orsat’s proposed research programme will address the broad spectrum of quality changes that occur during various stages of postharvest maturation, ripening or senescence, pest infestation, exposure to various biotic and abiotic factors that influence postharvest status such as temperature, humidity, electromagnetic radiation and chemical treatments. Beneficial compounds and secondary metabolites will be identified and approaches to enhancing their content and bioavailability in commercial foods will be considered. It is hypothesized that controlled application of various operative treatments can be used to stimulate the synthesis/conservation of primary and secondary metabolic compounds that are important in human nutrition and product preservation. The fate of these functional compounds during processing, extraction and purification will be studied.
The knowledge gained will be applied to the agri-food sector for:
- Development of new products and processes in the ever growing nutraceutical and functional food sector
- Enhancement of nutritive value of traditional produce during processing
- Development of produce characteristics favourable to processing
- Better quality preservation of produce during handling (flavour, nutrient and phytochemicals)
Curriculum Vitae
Download Dr. Orsat's CV and publication list:
CVOrsat .
Courses
- BREE 216 Bioresource Eng. Materials
- BREE 301 Biothermodynamics
- BREE 423 Biological Material Properties
- BREE 481 Undergrad Seminar 1
- BREE 482 Undergrad Seminar 2
- BREE 483 Undergrad Seminar 3
- BREE 484 Undergrad Seminar 4
- BREE 603 Adv Properties: Food&Plant Mat