Researching fermentation in cocoa
March 11, 2020
Prof David Salt recently visited the Cocoa Research Centre in Trinidad & Tobago. In this post he reflects on our cocoa project in Colombia, and the work we are developing with the CRC. Our Colombian cocoa project began because we were interested in understanding the connections between the way fermentation works in cocoa beans and …
Doing science in the field: stories from our Colombian cocoa project
January 16, 2020
Dr Christopher Moore and Dr David Gopaulchan travelled to Colombia together in May 2019 to carry out scientific sampling of the cocoa fermentation process on different farms. David recently travelled back to Colombia for the second harvest, to conduct further sampling, in November and December 2019. We spoke to David and Chris about the experiences, …
Eating chocolate in the name of science!
November 20, 2019
The Future Food Beacon is currently leading a Prosperity Fund/Innovate UK funded project titled Controlling cocoa bean fermentation for enhanced chocolate flavour. The project draws together Colombian female farmers with a Nottingham bean-to-bar chocolate maker, Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates, working alongside our researchers to improve the flavour of chocolate. The first harvest of cocoa took place …
Meet the Beacon: Dr Christopher Moore
July 18, 2019
Dr Chris Moore is a geneticist and the Future Food Beacon technologist. He is based in Deep Seq, where he performs DNA sequencing and provides genomics support for Future Food researchers. Chris helps researchers to plan their sequencing projects, carries out the lab work and transfers data to bioinformaticians, such as Dr Michael Wilson, for …
Future Food Collaborators: Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates
July 9, 2019
Luisa Vicinanza-Bedi is a chocolate maker based in Sneinton Market in Nottingham. Her company, Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates, makes bean to bar chocolates using cocoa beans sourced directly from farmer’s around the world. Luisa is collaborating with the Future Food Beacon on an Innovate UK project in Colombia. Luisa spoke to Lexi Earl about her company, …
Meet the Beacon: Prof David Salt
June 19, 2019
Professor David E. Salt is the Director of the University of Nottingham’s multimillion pound Future Food Beacon of Excellence. Prof Salt left the UK after his PhD in 1990 to work as an academic in the US where he became a Full Professor at Purdue University in 2005, and where, from 2004 – 2007, he was the …
Future Food Beacon Collaborators: Tatiana Chavez
April 17, 2019
Tatiana Chavez was a visiting researcher in the Future Food Beacon in February and March of this year. She is from Ecuador. She works in the Biotechnology Research Center of Ecuador (CIBE), in the Molecular Biology laboratory. She currently researches the analysis of the expression of genes related to plant-pathogen and plant-biofertilizer interactions. In this …
An Interview with Dr David Gopaulchan, Visiting Research Fellow, Future Food Beacon
January 7, 2019
Dr David Gopaulchan is a postdoctoral researcher in the molecular lab at the Cocoa Research Centre, University of the West Indies. He recently completed four months as a Future Food Beacon Visiting Research Fellow, working with colleagues in Biosciences to sequence over 250 varieties of cocoa bean in order to establish if there are genes …
