Vandemoortele Centre Lipid Science and Technology

The Vandemoortele Centre for Lipid Science and Technology was established in 2012 (pictures) as a formal continuation of the long-standing collaboration between Vandemoortele Lipids and the Food Structure and Function (FSF) research group at Ghent University, led by Prof. Koen Dewettinck. Embedded within the FSF group, the Centre has developed a strong international reputation for its scientific contributions to lipid structuring and edible fat technology. Collaboration agreements were renewed in 2017 and 2022, further strengthening this strategic partnership. Since October 2018, Prof. dr. ir. Filip Van Bockstaele has served as the Centre’s second director. A steering committee headed by Prof. Koen Dewettinck governs the strategic vision of the Vandemoortele Centre. 
Research conducted within the Centre has resulted in over 80 peer‑reviewed A1 publications, 5 book chapters, 6 PhD dissertations, >40 conference contributions and numerous master's theses and research traineeships, demonstrating the Centre’s sustained output and scientific impact.

Objective

The main objective of the Centre is to generate fundamental understanding in edible soft matter systems like shortenings, margarines, fat spreads, oleogels, water-in-oil emulsions, structured oils etc. for future development of healthy lipid-based food products which meet consumers expectations of functionality, health and sensory quality. In the past years many attention has been given to alternative approaches for oil structuring with the goal to reduce the content of saturated fatty acids (SaFa) in lipid-based foods. 

Research focus

The research within the Centre encompasses following topics: fat crystallization, oleogelation, emulsification, shear processing, lipid structuring, multiscale analysis of fats and oleogels, microscopy, saturated fat reduction, clean label products, waxes, oil binding, etc.

Research Facilities

The Vandemoortele Research Centre is embedded within the Food Structure and Function (FSF) Research Group at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering located at campus Coupure (Ghent, Belgium).

Researchers affiliated to Centre have access to the analytical equipment within the FS&F group (fat analysis, DSC, LR-NMR, cryo-SEM, rheology, texture, XRD, etc.). For lab scale bakery trials there is a collaboration with the bakery laboratory at Campus Schoonmeersen. Chemical analyses and upscaling experiments are being performed at the Vandemoortele R&D Centre. 

Specifica activities on fat crystallization and shear processing are performed within our crystallization lab. In this lab a unique bench top crystallizer (AC-unit) is available which comprises of a scraped surface heat exchanger (SSHE) and pinworker. This equipment allows to produce model system fat blends and emulsions at small scale though under industrial relevant conditions of shear and high cooling rates.

Opportunities

The crystallization lab is accessible for third parties for research collaborations.

If you are interested to join the Vandemoortele Centre as a master student, PhD student or postdoc, please send your CV, your motivation to join and your research interests to Prof. dr. ir. Filip Van Bockstaele. For suitably qualified candidates, we can discuss the appropriate funding strategy. Open vacancies will be published on the UGent vacancies website.

Vandemoortele Award

 Vandemoortele Award 'Wall of Fame':

Contact & information

Prof. dr. ir. Filip Van Bockstaele