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Professor

PhD (Lincoln), MSc (Reading), BSc Hons (Alexandria)

Aladin Bekhit

Contact

Tel +64 3 479 4994
Email aladin.bekhit@otago.ac.nz
Office: Archway West 1.06

About

Aladin is a meat scientist and food technologist. Aladin has a varied background with experience in engineering, biochemistry and technology which allows him to tackle research problems with a multi-disciplined approach. He has previously been employed as a research scientist for AgResearch, as well as lecturer at Lincoln University.

Aladin is interested in muscle biochemistry and other factors that control meat quality (particularly colour and tenderness), as well as waste utilization.

Waste utilization is a growing field, increasing in its importance across industries and particularly for the food industry. Global food shortages and rising production costs are making the retention and use of valuable by-products more and more necessary. Aladin is particularly interested in the recovery of bioactive compounds from food waste, and until recently he was the only New Zealand academic working in this area.

Aladin always encourages his research students, whether they are doing PGDip, Master's thesis or PhD, to produce information that is publishable and useful to the field, and to get involved in the scientific community.

Teaching

Course Co-ordinator

Contributor to

  • FOSC 111 Food in a Changing World
  • FOSC 201 Food Components, Processing and Functionality
  • FOSC 202 Food Systems and Quality

Research

Research interests

  • Waste utilization in general with the aim of recovering bioactive compounds from food waste
  • Biochemistry of muscle foods
  • How different processing options or interventions can manipulate food quality, specifically meat
  • Alternative proteins
  • Halal food research
  • Interdisciplinary research

Research projects

  • 2019 – Total volatile basic nitrogen in meat products: occurrence, method of determination and use as a freshness indicator (Australian Meat Processor Corporation).
  • 2019 – PhD funding – Phospholipids from fish by-products (funded by Sanford Ltd)
  • 2018 – Safety of Meat co-products. NZ Food Safety Science & Research Centre.
  • 2018 – Sheep milk and bone health. The Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (AIGPrReq-000220)
  • 2018 – Quality of organic farmed lambs. Avalon Farm Holding Ltd.
  • 2015 – 2017 Development of High Quality Nutritional Protein from Wool – MIBE
  • 2014 – Dark cut meat. Review commissioned by Australian Meat Processing Corporation
  • 2013 – AgResearch – Extraction of Gelatin
  • 2013 – Bioactives from wastes – Strategic UORG
  • 2013 – PhD funding – Effect of grazing on lipids in sheep meat (AbcusBio)
  • 2013 – 2018 Sheep milk MBIE
  • 2012 – Enhancement of meat quality by pulsed electric field application (Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC)).
  • 2012 – Predicting colour and flavour stabilities of meat from pre-slaughter assessments (Australian Meat Processor Corporation).
  • 2010 – Sustainable Footrot treatment Phase 2 (Sustainable Farming Fund and AGMART)
  • 2010 – Bioactive compounds from Deer Milk (Priming Partnerships Fund).
  • 2019 – Total volatile basic nitrogen in meat products: occurrence, method of determination and use as a freshness indicator (Australian Meat Processor Corporation).
  • 2019 – PhD funding – Phospholipids from fish by-products (funded by Sanford Ltd)
  • 2018 – Safety of Meat co-products. NZ Food Safety Science & Research Centre.
  • 2018 – Sheep milk and bone health. The Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (AIGPrReq-000220)
  • 2018 – Quality of organic farmed lambs. Avalon Farm Holding Ltd.
  • 2015 – 2017 Development of High Quality Nutritional Protein from Wool – MIBE
  • 2014 – Dark cut meat. Review commissioned by Australian Meat Processing Corporation
  • 2013 – AgResearch – Extraction of Gelatin
  • 2013 – Bioactives from wastes – Strategic UORG
  • 2013 – PhD funding – Effect of grazing on lipids in sheep meat (AbcusBio)
  • 2013 – 2018 Sheep milk MBIE
  • 2012 – Enhancement of meat quality by pulsed electric field application (Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC)).
  • 2012 – Predicting colour and flavour stabilities of meat from pre-slaughter assessments (Australian Meat Processor Corporation).
  • 2010 – Sustainable Footrot treatment Phase 2 (Sustainable Farming Fund and AGMART)
  • 2010 – Bioactive compounds from Deer Milk (Priming Partnerships Fund).

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhD students

  • Salome Dini – Lipopeptides
  • Ruchita Kavle – Edible insects' protein
  • Nethmini Haththotuwa (Anatomy) – Keratin derived protein
  • Siripong Kanokruangrong – Investigating the biochemistry of fresh meat colour

Current MSc students

  • Shuxian Li – Fermented fish roe
  • Yu-Tong Gao – Brain phospholipids

Past PhD students

  • Mirja Ahhmed – Lipids from Fish heads
  • Mohamed Al-saif – Toxicological studies on grape seed extracts
  • Amir Amini Khoozani – Green banana
  • TK Tantamacharik – Peptides from Sheep milk
  • Mylene Anwar – Taro (Colocasia esculenta) water-soluble non-starch polysaccharide
  • Zuhaib F. Bhat (Lincoln University) – Novel processing technologies and meat quality
  • Reshan Jayawardena Mudiyanselage (Lincoln University) – Meat Co-products
  • Ye Wang (Lincoln University) – Deer Milk
  • Senni Bunga – Fish Roe
  • Tanyaradzwa Mungure – Quality of venison
  • Keegan Burrow – Mineral-binding proteins in sheep milk
  • Hongxia Zhang – Bioactives from Asparagus roots
  • Yakun Hou – Bioactives from Kina Shells
  • Zhijing Ye (Lincoln University) – Modification of bioactives in lees (Lincoln Uni)
  • Natalie Howes – Grazing and lamb quality
  • SueSiang Teh – Bioactives from oilseed cakes
  • Minh HA – Milk proteins from ruminants

Past MSc students

  • Yi-Ting Sung – Lamb flavour
  • Jonas Maierl – Untargeted profiling of protein oxidation in dry aged venison
  • Linakshi Weerakoon – Safety of meat co-products
  • Mengxin (Mou) Huang, (MSc thesis) – “Analysis of mutton bird stomach oil.”
  • Dong Ju (Jenny) Kim, (MSc thesis) – “Characterization of lipids from Mutton bird (Puffinus griseus).”

Publications

Nirmal, N., Santrivarangkna, C., & Bekhit, A. E.-D. A. (2025). Fish protein hydrolysates: From production to food and nutraceutical industry applixarions. London, UK: Academic Press, 349p. doi: 10.1016/C2022-0-02603-9 Authored Book - Research

Kanokruangrong, S., Kebede, B., Carne, A., Stewart, I., & Bekhit, A. E.-D. A. (2025). Metabolomic investigation of fresh beef, lamb and venison using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in relation to colour stability. Food Chemistry, 463, 141447. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.141447 Journal - Research Article

Bekhit, A. E.-D. (2024, December). The role of metmyoglobin (MetMb) reducing system in maintaining meat colour and quality. Invited presentation at the 7th International Forum on Food Nutrition and Health, [Hybrid]. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Yang, K., Guo, R., Chen, J., Zheng, X., Xu, B., Bekhit, A. E.-D. A., … Zhong, S. (2024). Elucidating the molecular mechanism of angiogenic activity of sulfate glycosaminoglycan derived from fish swim bladder in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Journal of Functional Foods, 123, 106611. doi: 10.1016/j.jff.2024.106611 Journal - Research Article

Bekhit, A. E.-D. A. (2024). Cultured meat as a halal green technology solution for sustainable food product development. Proceedings of the International Halal Product Development Conference (IHPDC). (pp. 31). [Abstract] Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

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