Who we are
Dr Jane K. Parker
Jane Parker is full-time manager of The Flavour Centre. Having spent the last 15 years working on collaborative projects with the food industry, Jane has considerable understanding of the needs of commercial customers. Her expertise is in the area of flavour chemistry and the mechanisms by which key odour compounds are formed during thermal processing. Research in flavour formation in a range of fresh produce and sensory and chemical characterisation, provides her with a well rounded perspective on industrial flavour problems.
Find out more about Jane’s work by visiting her staff profile on the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences website.
Dr Steve Elmore
Steve’s expertise is in the application of instrumental analysis to the separation and identification of aroma compounds in foods. He is recognised for his work on the effects of diet and breed on lamb and beef flavour, in particular the role of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids. Recently he has studied the relationship between the formation of acrylamide and flavour in baked and fried products, and the effects of agronomic practice on levels of key precursors. His understanding of a wide range of industrial flavour chemistry issues provides an impressive contribution to the range of our work.
Find out more about Steve’s work by visiting his staff profile on the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences website.
Dr Dimitris Balagiannis
Dimitris has many years’ experience working for the Flavour Centre. Dimitris is a Maillard Reaction chemist with a focus on flavour and acrylamide formation. His expertise lies in the kinetics of the Maillard Reaction and in modelling the formation pathways of Maillard Reaction products. He is also an experienced analytical chemist with focus on the analysis of precursors, intermediate and final products of the Maillard reaction (sugars, amino acids, Amadori products, hydroxycarbonyls, dicarbonyls, flavour compounds, acrylamide etc).
Professor Don Mottram
Don is Emeritus Professor of the Flavour Research Group at Reading, which is acknowledged to be one of the world’s leading centres in the subject. He has strong links with industry and has extensive experience in the chemistry and biochemistry of flavour formation in a wide range of food and drinks. Particular expertise in the Maillard reaction has been widely recognised and he played a leading role in the worldwide investigation into the formation of acrylamide in heated foods.
Find out more about Don’s work by visiting his staff profile on the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences website.