News--Welcome to National Chiayi University

　　As there are innumerable walks of life in the world, we may distinguish ourselves in any trade. Produced by Sanlih Entertainment Television, "Career Master" is a TV program dedicated to profoundly documents the stories of hardworking people in Taiwan from all walks of life, spanning agriculture, fishery, animal husbandry and food processing industries. The program is expected to showcase the proud stories of Taiwan to the world. Lu Ying-Chen, Assistant Professor of the Department of Food Science of National Chiayi University gave an exclusive interview with Huang Xi-Tian, host of “Career Master” on the afternoon of August 12th, who specially went to the Lantan campus. A video was shot about the development of professional technology of processing freeze-dried shrimps. The interview offered a glimpse into how he has been instructing young farmers in terms of professional food processing technology, and helping market Taiwan’s high-quality agricultural products around the world.

　　Taiwan abounds with high-quality agricultural products, which have been sold at home and abroad. The year 2019 marked the first year of regional revitalization. To alleviate the aging of the rural population, the government has been devoted to encouraging young farmers to return home for work. While food safety incidents have been occuring at an alarming rate in recent years, concerns about health and food sources have been raised. People no longer choose products solely based on competitive prices or convenience. Therefore, people have begun to opt for agricultural processed products that are naturally cultivated, handmade, or additive-free. Assistant Prof. Lu Ying-Chen has been exploring new technologies for shrimp drying since 2017. He has been implementing the SBIR project of the Yunlin County Government jointly with National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, in which he assisted Good Shrimp Company to develop “Fresh Shrimp Rice Noodles.” They received the “Rural Good Products Award 2020” from the Council of Agriculture for making breakthrough in the existing sales methods and shelf life of agricultural and fishery products, and successfully marketing the products at home and abroad.

　　Located in Kouhu Township, Yunlin County, the Good Shrimp Company consists of 8 young farmers born in 1980s who specialize in white shrimp farming using natural farming methods. Li Fu-Zheng, owner of the company, has been developing products that can be stored at room temperature, which makes them easier to store and more convenient to purchase. The dried shrimp snack products on the market are generally produced by means of the vacuum frying technology. Despite the use of centrifugal deoiling in the process, the amount of residual frying oil remains high, which can cause an increase in calorie intake, and off-flavor due to oxidation. Thus, they sought professional solutions from Assistant Prof. Lu Ying-Chen from the NCYU Department of Food Science. In his research and development. Assistant Prof. Lu adopts three oil-free methods: high-temperature drying, low-temperature drying, and freeze drying. One of the most traditional processing method, the high-temperature drying is relatively economical and high-speed; the resulting products, however, may easily shrink and harden. The low-temperature drying is an emerging technology for drying fruits in recent years. While being less destructive to the ingredients, it fails to eradicate the problem of food hardening and shrinkage. The freeze-drying technology, mostly used to dry medicines, lactic acid bacteria and other high-value products, has gradually been applied to food products in general. To freeze-dry shrimps, the shrimp should be frozen first, and then vacuumed. In the vacuum state, the temperature should be raised to zero degree Celsius, so that the water will turn from ice crystals to vapor through sublimation and volatilize. This is one of the best ways to preserve food, whose original form and flavor can be maintained.

　　The NCYU Department of Food Science has the most complete range of drying equipment in the country, spanning high-temperature drying, low-temperature drying, microwave drying, far-infrared vacuum drying and freeze drying. Assistant Prof. Lu, who has been conducting research and development in the professional technology, found that dried shrimps made by the freeze-drying technology not only maintain the original appearance without shrinkage, but also are easy to absorb water. After absorbing water, the shrimp body becomes more elastic and tastes like fresh shrimp. For the new SBIR project this year, Assistant Prof. Lu has been developing snack foods with “shrimp shells” collected from freeze-dried shrimps. Shrimp shells, Taiwanese rice and other raw materials have been used to develop non-fried puffed snack foods, in which the whole shrimp is used without any waste. Aquatic farming and animal husbandry companies in Taiwan are welcome to cooperate with the NCYU Department of Food Science. The university is complete with a proofing center, food processing plant and related technologies, thus able to offer assistance in the development of various dry products, puffed snack foods, and even low-fat, high-protein yogurt probiotics sous vide products, among others. The objective is to help farmers and fishermen to create added value to their products, and make Taiwan’s high-quality agricultural products known to the world.