EDITURA ACADEMIEI ROMNE http://www.ear.ro

Romanian Journal of Food Science

Official Journal of the Romanian Association of Food Professionals

http://www.asiar.ro

Romanian Journal of Food Science 2011, 1(1): 12 1

Editorial Why Romanian Journal of Food Science?

Why another journal? and Why Romanian? one should ask.

Romanian Journal of Food Science is the official scientific journal of the Romanian Association of Food Professionals from education, research and food processing fields and the first issue is due to be published in March 2011.

The Romanian Association of Food Professionals from education, research and food processing fields was founded in October 2009 as legal non-profit entity of private law aiming to promote food industry and food professionals of Romania.

The missions of this Association are to bring together all those that are working in Romanian higher education in food science, engineering and technology, food research institutes and food manufacturing companies; to represent all food professionals in relation with national and international authorities; to defend individual, collective and fundamental interests of its members; to have legislative initiatives which bring the food industry amongst Romanias economic priorities; to define the areas that are in need of research and/or of transfer of technology; to stimulate international experiences, exchange and co-operation for the advancement of knowledge in this area; and to advance in knowledge for the assurance of safety of all products meant for human consumption.

One of the activities that are needed to achieve the objectives mentioned in the Association Statute is to set up a scientific journal with national and international impact. After quite a long way consisting of several steps: preparation (name of the journal, editorial board, advisory scientific board, publisher agreement, ISSN code, etc.), article submitting, peer-review process, pre-launching, the first issue of the journal is ready to be published.

Why Food Science? would be the next question. Let us explore a bit the world of food science and food scientists.

Food Science is a name used to describe the application of scientific principles to create and maintain a wholesome food supply. Besides, it is a very broad research field, including studies on food composition, processing, safety, nutrition, cooking, and consumption.

The IFT Committee on Higher Education gave a more comprehensive definition: Food Science is the discipline in which the engineering, biological, and physical sciences are used to study the nature of foods, the causes of deterioration, the principles underlying food processing, and the improvement of foods for the consuming public noted Dennis R. Heldmana in the October 2006 issue of Food Technology b.

Activities of food scientists include the development of new products, design of processes to produce these foods, choice of packaging materials, shelf-life studies, and sensory evaluation of the product with trained expert panels or potential consumers, as well as microbiological and chemical testing.

Food scientists at universities may study more fundamental phenomena that are directly linked to the production of a particular food and its properties.

Consequently, food science is a highly interdisciplinary applied science which incorporates concepts from many different fields such as chemistry, physics, biochemistry, microbiology, chemical engineering. Among food science topics there are: food chemistry and biochemistry, food a Dennis R. Heldman was the President of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) n the period 20062007. b Food Technology is an IFT publication.

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Romanian Journal of Food Science 2011, 1(1): 12 2

physics, food microbiology, food safety, food preservation, food engineering, food packaging, product development, food sensory analysis, food technology, food processing, food quality, quality control, food biotechnology, food toxicology, consumer science, molecular gastronomy, health and nutrition. A lot of connections and interdependencies exist between these topics. However, they are continuously undergoing changes to meet the more and more diverse consumer demands.

Nowadays, one of the challenges of the research in food science is the development of products and processes by employing modern tools and knowledge, such as biotechnology and genetic engineering, in particular by better understanding of the relationship between molecular structure and functional properties of biological materials.

Food safety and security will be an even more critical issue as consumers demand fresher foods and manufacturers transport the food over longer distances.

Furthermore, new packaging materials and techniques will be developed to give more protection to foods.

In addition, there is significant interest in identifying preservation technologies that can improve food safety and security to meet the growing demand for fresh and healthy convenient foods.

The future of food science also relies on the education and training of the young researchers. It is the responsibility of senior food scientists and professionals to give the opportunity for the young to share the vision of the future and to get them involved in the international research community. In this way, the young are more aware of the trends and

developments in this area and, in return, they will become the driving forces for the future of food science.

All these aspects were carefully analysed before the decision to release another food publication, namely Romanian Journal of Food Science, was put into practice.

Therefore, Romanian Journal of Food Science will publish, in English, papers that should have a clear orientation into the following subjects of food science: food chemistry and biochemistry, food consumer science, food control, food engineering, food microbiology, food packaging and preserva-tion, food physical properties, food quality, food safety, food technology and processing, food toxicology, health and nutrition, biosensors for food processing and quality control, food sensory, food biotechnology and the list remains opened for future food challenges.

Consequently, as stated in the list of the Romanian Association of Food Professionals activities, the new food journal aims to represent food scientists of all Romanian food higher education establishments, research institutes and food practitioners of Romanian food industry. Moreover, having an international editorial board, the journal hopes to attract food scientists from abroad for publishing and sharing ideas, experience and co-operation.

Finally, as the Editor-in-Chief of Romanian Journal of Food Science, I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank for the contribution from the authors and the reviewers. I would also like to express my special appreciation to the Romanian Academy and Publishing House of Romanian Academy.

Maria TURTOI

Editor-in-chief

Romanian Journal of Food Science

Official Journal of the Romanian Association of Food Professionals

E-mail: maria.turtoi@asiar.ro

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