Marleny Aranda Saldana, PhD

Professor, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sci - Ag, Food & Nutri Sci Dept

Pronouns: She, her, hers

Contact Overview Courses Activities Publications Links

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sci - Ag, Food & Nutri Sci Dept

Email: marleny@ualberta.ca
Phone: (780) 492-8018
Address: 3-18A Agriculture/Forestry Centre
9011 116 St NW

Edmonton AB

T6G 2P5

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords

Food/Bio-Engineering Processing Food and By-Product Utilization Unit Operations Sub/Supercritical Fluid and High Pressure Processing Laboratory (SCFHPPL) Biomass Bioactives

About

Degree

PhD, Process Engineering, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP)

Part of my PhD research was conducted at:

- Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg in the Supercritical Extraction Plant, Department of Thermal Process Engineering, Hamburg, Germany.

- Delft University of Technology in the Laboratory for Applied Thermodynamics and Phase Equilibria, Delft, The Netherlands.

Job/Research Area

Food / Bio-Engineering Processing, Sub/supercritical fluid processing, Bioactives, Natural health products, Food products

Awards

2023-2024 Killam Annual Professorship Award

2023 AFNS Graduate Mentor Award

2022 ALES Faculty International Engagement Award, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.

2017 Awarded McCalla Professorship, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. It is stated that “Awards are provided to outstanding academics who have made significant contributions to their field of research, teaching and learning. Awards provide funding for research and teaching initiatives at the University of Alberta”

2015 Selected to attend Gold College, which is an innovative program aimed to improve academic leadership with a vision of “uplifting the whole people” supported by the Office of the Provost and is presented by Organizational Health and Effectiveness, Human Resource Services

2002 Scholarship from the Research Foundation of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP), September 1997 to February 2002, SP, Brazil.

1998 Award from Industry obtained from the Brazilian Association of Coffee Industries (ABIC), award to the research in the category of Coffee Industry & Coffee Technology, March 12, SP, Brazil.

Research

Major Responsibilities/ Research Interests

1. Emerging Processing Technologies

My research focuses on emerging processing technologies and the use of near-critical and supercritical water and carbon dioxide to treat biomass and agricultural materials for use in nutraceutical, food and industrial applications. We have worked on protein, and starch processing. Main areas are:

- Sub/supercritical fluid processing (supercritical CO2, subcritical and supercritical water, pressurized fluids for extraction, fractionation, reaction and particle formation)

- Ultrasound processing (extraction, homogenization, emulsion, reaction, etc)

- High Pressure Processing and High Pressure Processing assisted by Temperature to treat crops and food products.

2. Unit Operations for Food/By-product Processing

My research group has vast experience on food/Natural health product/by-product processing using various unit operations. We have processed food and by-products using conventional methods as well as innovative processing techniques:

- Adsorption (Compounds)

- Extraction (Bioactives and value-added compounds)

- Fractionation (Extracts, Bioactives)

- Reaction of biopolymers (Films, Gels)

- Particle formation (Powders)

- Drying and pasteurization

- Food industry waste treatment

3. Mathematical modeling and simulations

We have also performed mathematical modeling and computer simulations:

- Solubility determination and modeling

- Kinetic modeling

- Extraction simulation

Crops that are currently under study in my research team include potato, flax, wheat, triticale, lentils and peas. Among crops previously studied are barley, canola, faba beans, coffee and cocoa beans, guarana seeds, carrots, tomatoes, Echinacea roots and tea leaves.

I maintain fruitful collaborations with researchers from renowned centers and universities in Japan, Germany, The Netherlands and Brazil. Thus, I provide an exciting research program in the area of high pressure processing, nanotechnology and supercritical water technology.

Teaching

Graduate/PDF Career Opportunities

Graduate students and PDFs with interest in supercritical fluid technology are encouraged to apply. Ideal students and researchers will have a degree in food engineering or chemical engineering, but students from other disciplines with interest in supercritical water technology, nanoencapsulation or high pressure processing will also be considered.

Courses

AFNS 554 - Unit Operations in Food Preservation

Processes used in food preservation. Dehydration, freezing, sterilization and canning, irradiation and high pressure processing. Effect of processing on food properties. Not to be taken if credit received for NU FS 454. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

Winter Term 2025

NU FS 283 - Introduction to Food Engineering

Mass and energy balances, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer in food systems. Prerequisites: NU FS 201 or (3 units in PHYS and one of MATH 113, 114, 134, 144, or 154).

Winter Term 2025

NU FS 454 - Unit Operations in Food Preservation

Processes used in food preservation. Dehydration, freezing, sterilization and canning, irradiation and high pressure processing. Effect of processing on food properties. Graduate students may not register for credit (see AFNS 554). Credit will only be given for one of AFNS 554 or NU FS 454. Prerequisite: NU FS 283. Pre- or corequisite: (NU FS 361 or NU FS 363) and (NU FS 372 or NU FS 373).

Winter Term 2025

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