DiosadyL. L. Diosady

B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc., Ph.D., P.Eng., C.Eng, F.C.I.C, F.C.A.E., F.C.I.F.S.T., F.H.A.E. 

Room: WB24
Tel.: 416-978-4137
Email: l.diosady@utoronto.ca
Websites: chem-eng.utoronto.ca/~diosady and www.biozone.utoronto.ca

Awards

  • Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, 1992.
  • Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, 2008
  • Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology, 2009
  • Fellow of the Hungarian Academy of Engineering, 2009
  • Canada Award for Business Excellence, Inventions Category, through Innovations Foundation, University of Toronto), 1987
  • Top Ten Novel Products/Processes – Institute of Food Technology, 1989
  • Engineering Medal, Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, 2003 for Research and Development
  • Elected to University of Toronto Engineering Alumni Hall of Distinction 2004
  • Distinguished Alumnae, University of Toronto Alumni, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, 2004
  • Szent Laszlo Rend 2004 – for Hungarian education
  • Rakoczi Award 2006 – for Hungarian education
  • Archer Daniels Midland award of the American Oil Chemists' Society for best paper published in processing 2006
  • J. W. Eva Award for "outstanding service to the Canadian Institute of Food science and Technology through research and service" 2007

Memberships

Professional Engineers of Ontario
Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology
Institute of Food Technology
American Oil Chemists’ Society
Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering
Chemical Institute of Canada
Hungarian-Canadian Engineers’ Association


Research Interests

Food Engineering 
Food engineering applies the principles of chemical engineering and food chemistry to the large-scale processing of food. Foods must be nutritious, i.e., provide the essential nutrients for growth and health; they must be safe, free from dangerous micro-organisms and chemical contaminants; and, if they are to be consumed at all, they must be attractive in taste and appearance. Food engineers adapt the unit operations of traditional chemical engineering to the specific requirements of food processing. The aim of the food engineering program is to make it possible for well-trained chemical engineers to work in the food industry, the largest secondary manufacturing industry in Canada, with less on-the-job training and adaptation than is now required.

One third of the world’s population is suffering from inadequate intake of micronutrients, which interferes with physical and mental development of children, results in reduced immunity to disease, reduced work capacity, increased blindness and mortality especially among women and children. We work with the Micronutrient Initiative and the Program for Appropriate Technologies for Health (PATH) in developing technologies for the introduction of micronutrients into food, for the prevention of micronutrient deficiency diseases. We have developed technology for the simultaneous fortification of salt with iron and iodine. We are working on the triple fortification with iodine and iron in combination with folic acid, zinc or Vitamin A. The current research is focused on microencapsulation for the stabilization and controlled delivery of micronutrients and nutraceuticals for improving the nutritional value of foods in both the developing world and in Canada.

The second major research area is processing of vegetable oils. There is inevitable conflict between the use of agricultural products for food or fuel, and I consider it unethical to divert the supply of staple foods to fuel, when there is a real need for food in most of the world. My students and I developed a process for production of protein isolates from canola, rapeseed and mustard seed. These isolates have excellent food functionality and can replace expensive meat proteins in many processed foods. We are working on developing processes that will recover food grade protein, and high quality biodiesel from a number of oilseeds and algae, thus contributing both fuel and food from crops that are now unused, or have marginal utility. Our membrane-based processes offer an opportunity to recover minor components with nutraceutical or cancer preventative value from these oil sources.

Fats containing trans double bonds contribute to cardiovascular disease. We are developing novel catalytic processes that minimize the formation of trans double bonds but retain the desirable characteristics in the oil. Work on catalyst immobilization and investigation of homogeneous-heterogeneous mixed catalyst systems continues.

We are continuing the development of multi-component low nitrite, or nitrite free meat curing systems that reproduce the colour, flavour and oxidative stability of cured meat without the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines.

A number of modern chemical engineering unit operations have special applications in food processing. While we have focused on using our expertise in membrane processes, we have worked with industrial partners in the monitoring, control and modeling of extrusion in systems including multiple-fortified, reconstituted rice grains.

Research programs leading to the Ph.D., M.A.Sc., and M.Eng. degrees are open to graduates in chemical engineering, food science, chemistry, and biochemistry.