Sarah Veelaert, GEA
Sarah Veelaert
Plant Based Protein Application Manager
GEA

Sarah joined GEA Process Engineering in Denmark in 2017 and currently holds the position as application development manager for plant-based proteins. In 1996 she received her PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from the University of Ghent for her research on modified starch at the Wageningen University and Research Center.) Thereafter she joined Cargill in The Netherlands and later in Belgium where she held different positions as Scientist and Manager for Product and Process development on starchy ingredients for food applications. Sarah is having 30+ years of expertise on various process technologies, food ingredients, as well as food applications, and is looking forward to leverage that knowledge for the development and optimization of production lines for plant-based proteins .


Presentation description

The full production line from flour intake to spray-drying of plant based proteins will be discussed, with special focus on the processing steps having an influence on the functionality of the final protein powders. The presentation starts with a short introduction on the wet separation basics. Thereafter, different heat treatment as well as spray drying technologies will be explained, emphasizing the effect of those technologies on final protein properties. There will be examples on how those technologies can be used to change powder properties as well as how they affect behaviour and viscosity of the powders in aqueous dispersions.