Acting Dean, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; James McGill ProfessorBioresource Engineering: T: 514-398-7775 | valerie.orsat [at] mcgill.ca (Email) | Macdonald-Stewart Building, MS1-094 |
Degrees
MSc, PhD (McGill)
Awards and Recognitions
2021 - Suffrage Science Award
2017 - Women of Innovation
2017 - Fellow of the Canadian Society for Bioengineering
2016 - Carrie M. Derick Award for Graduate Teaching and Supervision
Short Bio
Valérie Orsat is a Professor in the Department of Bioresource Engineering on the Macdonald Campus of McGill University. She obtained her PhD from McGill University in 1999. From 1999 to 2007, she 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". Since 2007, Valérie Orsat is back at McGill as an academic member contributing to the food engineering sector, recognized in 2015 by the John Clark Award from the Canadian Society of Bioengineering in recognition of her outstanding contributions in this field. In 2021, she was recipient of the Engineering and Physical Sciences’ Suffrage Science award in recognition of her mentoring contribution for women in STEM fields.
Research Interests
Dr. Orsat’s research program addresses the broad spectrum of quality changes that occur during various stages of postharvest handling and food and bio-processing. Beneficial compounds and secondary metabolites are identified and approaches to enhancing their content and bioavailability in commercial foods are considered. The fate of health and techno- functional compounds during processing, extraction and purification are studied.
The knowledge gained will be applied to promote the growth of the agri-food sector for:
- Development of new products and processes in the ever growing nutraceutical and functional food sector
- Enhancement of the nutritive value of foods during handling and processing
- Better quality preservation of produce during handling (flavour, nutrient and phytochemicals)
Current Research
- Development of processing methods for enhanced production, extraction and encapsulation of bioactive compounds for the functional foods sector
- Développement de procédés durable de production, d’extraction et d’encapsulation de molécules bio-actives pour le secteur des aliments fonctionnels
Courses
Publications
View a list of current publications