Valérie Orsat
QAQCC Principal Investigator, James McGill Professor
Dr. Valérie Orsat is a James McGill 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.
Since 2007, Valérie Orsat has been 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 2017, she was recognized as a Woman of Innovation in engineering and became a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Bio-Engineering. In 2021, she was a recipient of the Engineering and Physical Sciences’ Suffrage Science award in recognition of her mentoring contribution for women in STEM fields.
Engineering approaches to develop new food products and functional ingredients: This research program investigates the health- and techno- functionalities of foods and food ingredients targeting to improve the diversity and quality of our food supply. Work on extraction covers a wide spectrum of plants and plant biomasses to highlight their bioactivities and potential marketability. Recent work in microencapsulation of functional ingredients has led to the study of nanoparticles as target particulates for better health with excellent research results for the production of gold nanoparticles using grape waste as the catalyzing/stabilizing agent. Current food product developments are targeting formulations with plant-based extracts with specific functionalities (anti-stress; blood glucose modulation; etc.).
Processing technologies in food: This research program aims at optimizing processes for ensuring food quality and safety. Microwave, ultrasound, cold plasma, cavitation-pressure, etc. are explored and developed for industry level adoption.
Enhancing food security: In this line of activity, projects deal with the production, nutrition and technical challenges in agricultural and food development. Recent efforts have concentrated on sustainable agricultural resources and technologies. Actions aspire to secure positive societal impacts with sensible technology adoption practices.
