The Ruđer Bošković Institute: food for thought

The Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) is the largest and most multidisciplinary scientific research institution in the Republic of Croatia. While the RBI is primarily concerned with fundamental research in fields ranging from theoretical physics to environmental research, its presence in applied science is currently expanding. The present contribution will demonstrate how fundamental concepts in physics and chemistry can be applied to the areas of food safety and quality. For example, the RBI's historical expertise with ionising radiation can be harnessed for the purpose of controlled sterilisation. Such treatments, as well as other processes can, however, lead to the formation of free-radical species with unpaired electrons. High-sensitivity detection of free radicals is possible in the presence of strong magnetic fields using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, a technique which the RBI has used for fundamental research for many years. On the other end of the spectrum, the demand for products low in sugar is increasing markedly in recent times. This has led to an increased use of artificial sweeteners. Such substitutions, however, can have a dramatic influence on the physical and chemical properties of certain preparations. This situation opens new ways of leveraging RBI's fundamental knowledge of physical chemistry for concrete applications in the food industry.