Matteknologi

Matteknologi, or food technology in English, is the multidisciplinary field that studies the transformation of raw agricultural materials into safe, nutritious, and appealing food products. It integrates chemistry, microbiology, physics, nutrition, and engineering to optimize processing, preservation, quality, and flavor while maintaining safety and sustainability.

Practitioners work on product development, process design, scale-up from lab to production, equipment selection and operation, heat and mass transfer, packaging, and shelf-life determination. They apply microbiology and food safety systems such as HACCP and GMP, along with sensory analysis and nutrition.

Education typically leads to a bachelor's or master's degree in matteknologi or food technology. Coursework often covers food chemistry, microbiology, food processing, process engineering, statistics, quality management, packaging, and regulatory aspects.

Career opportunities include roles in food producers, ingredient suppliers, research institutes, and government agencies. Personnel may be involved in product development, process optimization, quality assurance, compliance, and sustainability initiatives.

In recent decades, matteknologi has expanded to address sustainability, alternative protein sources, clean labels, food safety modernization, and digitalization of food manufacturing, including data analytics and automation.