Department of Food Science and Technology

Department was established on the September 1, 1951.

About

2025 – Prof. P. R. Venskutonis was awarded the title of Academician of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences for outstanding achievements in science.
2025 – All three study programs in the field of food technology – the bachelor’s program Food Science and Technology and the master’s programs Food Science and Nutrition and Food Technology and Innovation – received significant international recognition: all programs were granted prestigious quality labels “ASIIN seal” and “EQAS-Food Label”.
2024 – Dr. L. Jūrienė was awarded the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Young Scientist Scholarship.
2023 – The M-Lab laboratory INDfood LAB (Individual Nutrition for Disease Prevention) was established (headed by Prof. A. Šipailienė).
2023 – Department Professor V. Kitrytė-Syrpa began serving as Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology.
2022 – Prof. R. P. Venskutonis received the Kaunas City Scientist Award for achievements in the fields of physical, biomedical, agricultural, and technological sciences and was elected a member of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST). Dr. L. Jūrienė received the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Young Scientists and Doctoral Students Research Award for the scientific work “Biorefining of By-products of Berries Grown in Lithuanian Farms into Valuable Functional Ingredients and Their Application to Improve the Safety and Quality of Meat Products.” I. Jurevičiūtė became the laureate of the Lithuanian Young Scientists’ Union competition “Best Master’s Theses” for her work “Comparison of Hypoglycemic Properties and Binding Capacity of Four Dietary Fiber Rich Berry Pomace Using in vitro Models” (supervisor Assoc. Prof. M. Keršienė). The master’s program Food Science and Safety was renamed Food Science and Nutrition.
2021 – Prof. P. R. Venskutonis was awarded the Lithuanian Science Award in Physical Sciences for the cycle of works “Functional Food Substances: Innovative Production Technologies, New Products and Application for Food Safety and Health,” as well as the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Award for Outstanding Contribution to Functional Food and Nutrient Research, and the KTU Award for the Best Monograph for “Valorization of Fruit Processing By-products.” Dr. V. Eisinaitė received the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Young Scientists Scholarship. 3D food printers were purchased and the 3D Food Printing Laboratory was established (headed by Dr. V. Eisinaitė). The master’s program Food Product Technology was renamed Food Technology and Innovation.
2020 – Prof. D. Leskauskaitė received the KTU Most Innovative Scientist Award, while Assoc. Prof. M. Syrpas and Assoc. Prof. M. Pukalskienė received KTU Young Scientist Awards in the fields of natural and technological sciences. Prof. P. R. Venskutonis was listed in the Stanford University ranking of the world’s most cited scientists across various disciplines (in the field of food science, which included 29,148,453 articles published in 2020, he was cited 1,989 times). The Food Digestibility Research Laboratory was established (headed by Prof. D. Leskauskaitė) through the implementation of the Research, Experimental Development and Innovation Infrastructure Development and Integration into European Infrastructures Project, and a human gastrointestinal simulation system TwinSHIME was acquired to determine the potential bioavailability of food components in the human body.
2018 – The largest graduation of the Food Science and Technology bachelor’s program was held (95 graduates).
2017 – The 4th Northern and Eastern European Countries Food Congress NEEFood was organized.
2016 – The Food Science and Technology and Food Science and Safety study programs were accredited by international experts of EQAS-Food (European Quality Accreditation and Certification System for Food Studies) and granted the “EQAS-Food Label” quality mark. These bachelor’s and master’s programs were the first in Lithuania to receive such recognition for a period of five years (2017–2022).
2014 – The Department of Food Product Technology was renamed the Department of Food Science and Technology.
2013 – In cooperation between business (company ART21) and academia (Assoc. Prof. R. Vinauskienė), the world’s first mobile electronic nose for determining the freshness of meat, poultry, and fish was developed.
2013 – A delegation of the European Parliament visited the Food Science and Technology Competence Center.
2012–2014 – Using funds from the Integrated Science, Studies, and Business Center (Valley) “Santaka” project (Prof. D. Leskauskaitė), the only supercritical carbon dioxide extraction and accelerated solvent extraction equipment in Lithuania was acquired, as well as instruments for determining the rheological and textural properties of food systems, and chromatography and spectrometry laboratories were modernized.
2012 – The second-cycle study program Food Science and Safety began to be offered in English.
2011 – The international conference NordForsk (Network on Dairy Structures – Health and Functionality) was organized.
2010 – The Food Science and Technology Competence Center was opened after implementing the Integrated Science, Studies and Business Center (Valley) “Nemunas” project (Prof. D. Leskauskaitė).
2009 – The Baltic Sea Region Countries Conference Baltfood (E-learning strategies in the food industry: Results and Implementation Strategy for Baltic Food Academy) was organized.
2006–2007 – Together with partners, two EU Structural Funds-supported projects (Prof. D. Leskauskaitė) were implemented, aimed at improving and developing study modules and programs, and enhancing educational and research infrastructure.
2006 – The 1st International Baltic Conference on Food Science and Technology FoodBalt was organized, which has since been held every three years at KTU (2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2022, 2025).
2004 – Prof. Petras Rimantas Venskutonis was awarded the Lithuanian State Prize in Technological Sciences for his work on the isolation, research, and application of biologically valuable components from plant raw materials.
2001 – The 1st Baltic Conference on Rye was organized, dedicated to rye research.
1991 – Bachelor’s studies in Food Product Technology (4 years), master’s studies in Food Product Technology Engineering (1.5 years), and master’s studies in Food Science (2 years) were launched.
1965 – Training of engineers-technologists in Catering Technology and Organization began.
1959 – The comprehensive Food Product Technology specialty was established (replacing the Meat and Dairy Technology specialty), training engineers-technologists for the meat, dairy, sugar, bread, confectionery, fruit and vegetable processing, fermentation, and fat industries.
1951, September 1 – The Department of Food Product Technology was established. Its predecessor was considered to be the Department of Organic Technology of Kaunas University. The first head of the Department was Prof. Jonas Zigmas Venskevičius.

Research

Fields of science: N003 Chemistry, T005 Chemical Engineering.

Functional food materials.

Search, characterization, evaluation, processing and application technologies of functional materials (various natural food ingredients and food additives, health promoting compounds, etc.). Development of food materials and by-products biorefining processes into functional ingredients, applying multi-step extraction, fractionation, thermal- and enzymatic treatment methods. Search, characterization and application of novel phytochemical materials for functional food, food supplement and other product manufacturing.

Food structure investigation and design.

Encapsulation of bioactive compounds to control their release in the consumer gastrointestinal tract. Development of probiotic microcapsules, which are stable and vital during the technological process and storage. Products for special needs development designing their structure.

Bioproducts and food bioprocess technologies.

Development of biotechnologies for the processing of secondary raw materials of agro-food origin into valuable food components by microbial fermentation, enzymatic hydrolysis, thermal and mechanical methods. Development, analysis and application of new bioproducts and bioactive components. Increasing the efficiency of bioprocesses.

Researchers: R. Baranauskienė, dr. L. Bašinskienė, dr. D. Čižeikienė, dr. R. Degutytė, dr. V. Eisinaitė, dr. J. Jagelavičiūtė, dr. S. Jeznienė, dr. I. Jasutienė, dr. L. Jūrienė, R. Kazernavičiūtė, dr. M. Keršienė, dr. V. Kitrytė-Syrpa, dr. P. Kraujalis, dr. D. Leskauskaitė, dr. M. Pukalskienė, dr. A. Šipailienė, dr. M. Syrpas, dr. P. R. Venskutonis, dr. R. Vinauskienė, dr. D. Žadeikė, dr. R. Žvirdauskienė.

Food Science and Technology Competence Centre

Kaunas University of Technology and the Institute of Gardening and Horticulture at the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry established the modern Food Science and Technology Competence Centre (FSTCC) in 2010. The FSTCC is the first such centre in the Baltic States and is equipped with unique pilot equipment for the food industry. The combination of production and the most modern analytical equipment enables the modelling and optimisation of industrial processes in food production and storage as well as the identification and assessment of critical points in processes.

We are open to cooperation and invite all companies and organisations to cooperate in the development and improvement of technologies and the creation of new products:

you will save your time and expenses
you will control the process at every stage of its development
you will have the chance to use the knowledge collected at the centre
you will increase your visibility and competitiveness

Our vision is reflected in the centre’s name.

Buisiness service

We are here to assist industrial companies in the development of food production technologies using national intellectual resources and to look for rational solutions to production issues.

We provide professional advice on technical issues relating to food production and processing.
We constantly analyse EU directives and give advice.
We help analyse concepts and develop them.
We simulate real food production conditions with low raw materials.
We produce and demonstrate prototypes.
We offer a wide range of training in the field of food chemistry, production and quality.

Laboratories

Milk Laboratory

We produce cheese with automated vacuum tanning and cheese makers with full moisture and temperature control during ripening.
We improve your technology.
We concentrate on dairy products.
We collect and test raw materials for produced dairy products.
We process milk and liquid milk products thermally and mechanically.
We create new dairy products.

Meat and fish Laboratory

Reddening, boiling, baking, drying, maturing hot/cold smoked products in a heat-treatment chamber.
We shred, sort and rip raw meat and fish veins and arteries.
We simulate, loosen the texture of the products, change and check the intensity of salting.
We create recipient compositions and emulsions.
We form and pack products.

Bread and fermentation Laboratory

We create new confectionery and bakery manufacturing technologies.
We use modern methods to check the quality of products and raw materials.
We create and analyse processes for the production of kvass, cider, beer and strong drinks.
We create natural food additives.
We test new raw materials.

General Research Laboratory

The formation of nutritional products/dishes texture, nutritional value.
The application of sustainable technologies (heat treatment at low temperatures, semi-finished product vacuum).
The application of technological operations (packaging, intensive chilling, marinating).
The development of new food products/dishes, the optimisation of technological parameters and recipes, the description of production and documentation.
The creation of technology cards.