Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Food Manufacturing: Plant Products

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

ONPS2546

Bundoora Campus

Postgraduate

171H School of Science

Face-to-Face

 Sem 2 2018,
Sem 2 2019,
Sem 2 2020,
Sem 2 2021,
Sem 2 2022,
Sem 2 2023,
Sem 2 2024,
Sem 1 2025

Course Coordinator: Mina Dokouhaki

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925

Course Coordinator Email: mina.dokouhaki@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Availability: By Appointment


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Assumed knowledge

Completion of four or more semesters of a degree in food technology and nutrition, engineering, science, or other closely related fields.


Course Description

This course deals with the technology involved in the initial and further processing, storage and packaging of plant derived food products. This includes processing of plant commodities (e.g. grains, fruit and vegetables), and substantially transformed food products with a significant plant component (e.g. confectionery and chocolate). The topics covered will include:

  • Processing to convert bulk commodities into ingredients suitable for further processing into consumer products
  • Processing to produce substantially transformed plant based food products (e.g. confectionery and chocolate)
  • The importance of packaging technologies in fresh and minimally processed plant based products

An important aspect of this course that is relevant to all commodity categories will be a problem solving activity. In this activity you will have to solve an industry relevant problem, including research into technical and scientific information, and use that information to identify and evaluate possible solutions.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course contributes to the following Program Learning Outcomes for: MC237 – Master of Food Science and Technology 

This course contributes to Program Learning Outcomes (PLO) at AQF Level 9:

  • PLO2: Advanced skills to critically analyse and solve problems in food science and technology
  • PLO3: Application of knowledge and skills
  • PLO4: Communication
  • PLO5: Personal and professional responsibility

 


Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Critically review implications of the structure of the Australian plant based food industries, including grains, fruit and vegetables;
  2. Demonstrate an advanced and integrated understanding of various processing stages required to process a representative range of plant based commodity products into ingredients suitable for processing into end products;
  3. Apply critical analysis and reflection to production of substantially transformed products from plant products. This will include the ability to critically evaluate the influence of processing parameters and formulation on the quality of the final product;
  4. Critically reflect the application of different processing and packaging technologies to extend shelf-life or improve convenience of fresh or minimally processed plant derived products;
  5. Cross examine and interpret the main quality attributes (e.g. sensory attributes, composition, physical properties) of a range of plant derived products;
  6. Evaluate food safety and shelf-life of plant derived food products.


Overview of Learning Activities

You will learn in this course by:

  • Going through pre-recorded lectures where course content will be explained to you
  • Attending lectorials where you will apply the theoretical aspects obtained from pre-recorded lectures using many different food application systems
  • Attending tutorial workshops where you will work on a survey based industrial project
  • Personal study where you will review lecture content and read the recommended texts
  • Performing laboratory or pilot plant based activities where you will practice the techniques described during lectures
  • Analysing and reporting on the results of laboratory or pilot plant activities
  • Undertaking independent research to find technical and scientific information that you will incorporate into assignments and laboratory reports


Overview of Learning Resources

The learning resources associated with this course will include targeted readings taken from a range of both primary and secondary sources. Material chosen may be digitally available to you. Material will be delivered using the RMIT University myRMIT student on line system.

A Library Subject Guide is available at
https://rmit.libguides.com/foodbiotechnologybiologicalsciences


Overview of Assessment

Assessments

This course will have a substantial component of problem based learning. This means you will critically evaluate scientific and technical information, and undertake laboratory trials, to address problems related to substantially transformed plant based food products.

Assessment Task 1: Laboratory Reports and Poster Presentation
Weighting 40%
This assessment task supports CLOs 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

Assessment Task 2: Online Knowledge Testing Questionnaires
Weighting 20%
This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 3 & 4

Assessment Task 3: Questionnaire-based Practical Assessments 
Weighting 40%
This assessment task supports CLOs 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6