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Associate Professor

PhD (Otago), BSc (Hons) (Otago)

Graham Eyres image

Contact

Tel +64 3 479 7661 Ext 7661
Email graham.eyres@otago.ac.nz
Location Archway West Building, 90 Union Place, Room 1.05

About

Associate Professor Graham Eyres teaches and researches food chemistry, flavour science and brewing/fermentation. His research seeks to understand the factors that influence the sensory perception of flavour in foods by investigating the interactions between food, food processing, flavour chemistry and sensory science. Graham’s core research expertise is in the identification of volatile compounds in complex samples using advanced analytical techniques.

Graham's flavour expertise is applied in a range of projects including (1) the impact of food processing on food quality, (2) impact of ingredients and fermentation on beer flavour and quality, and (3) analysis of volatiles in exhaled breath as a non-invasive measure of metabolism and health status.

Graham is a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology (NZIFST) and the current Chair of the Otago-Southland branch. Graham was on the conference organising committee in 2022 and was the conference chair for the 2023 conference in Ōtepoti | Dunedin. Graham is Associate Investigator in the Riddet Institute and member of Food Waste Innovation research theme.

Teaching

Course Co-ordinator

Contributor to

  • FOSC 201 Food Components, Processing and Functionality
  • FOSC 202 Food Systems and Quality

Research

Research interests

  • Identification and analysis of aroma compounds in complex food samples and essential oils using gas chromatography-olfactometry and mass spectrometry.
  • Correlation of instrumental methods of analysis to sensory perception.
  • Oral breakdown of food during mastication, dynamic flavour release and impact on sensory perception.
  • Measurement of dynamic flavour release during consumption using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS)
  • Hop aroma compounds, flavour generation during fermentation, and the impact on beer flavour.
  • Generation and control of culinary smoke flavour in foods.
  • Impact of food processing on food quality and sensory properties in dairy and meat systems.
  • Evaluation of waste streams from the brewing industry and upcycling opportunities.
  • Evaluation of the volatile compounds present in vaping liquids and aerosols.

Research projects

  • 2022–2025 MBIE 2022 Endeavour Fund – Smart Ideas. “Recovery of high-value, natural flavour compounds from untapped food processing sources”. PI: G. Eyres, AI: P. Silcock, P. Bremer.
  • 2022–2027 Royal Society Te Apārangi Marsden Fund. “The olfactory cocktail party: How animals and humans segregate mixed odours (21-UOO-039).” Co-PI: P. Szyszka, T. Edwards. AI: G. Eyres, M. Peng, N. Hall.
  • 2021–2023 Health Research Council (HRC) Explorer Grant, “Designing better methodologies to enable robust risk assessment of vaping” (21/731). G. Eyres and P. Silcock.
  • 2021 University of Otago, Food Waste Innovation Theme Seed Research Grant, “Evaluation of brewery waste streams to assess potential for by-product utilization”. PI: G. Eyres, P. Bremer and P. Silcock.
  • 2021. Royal Society Catalyst Seeding General. “Using fermentation to create flavour for plant based analogue products” (21-UOO-004-CSG). PI: Pat Silcock, AI: G. Eyres, P. Bremer, F. Biasioli, V. Capozzi, M. Tufariello.
  • 2019–2023 Fondazione Edmund Mach (FEM), Istituto Agrario San Michele All'Adige, Italy. “Supporting HOP science and technology by high-throughput volatile compound analysis: Understanding changes during fermentation – HOVOC”. Silcock, P, Bremer, P. and Eyres, G.
  • 2017–2021. MBIE 2017 Endeavour Fund – Smart Ideas. “World Beating Beers: Advances in fermentation using underwater sound”. PI: A. Jeffs (University of Auckland). AI: G. Eyres, P. Silcock, A. Ganley, S. Villas-Boas.

Postgraduate supervision

Supervision topics

My research projects and interests are in the following areas. Please contact me for a list of projects.

  • Flavour science, aroma chemistry and sensory perception.
  • Analysis of volatile compounds in foods and essential oils.
  • Hops, flavour generation during fermentation, and the impact on beer flavour.
  • Evaluation of waste streams from the brewing industry and upcycling opportunities.

Current students

  • Max Nally (PhD), “High throughput monitoring of volatile compounds generated during fermentation of plant-based media”. Eyres, G., Bremer, P. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship]
  • Yuqing Yan (PhD), “Olfactory cocktail party: How human segregate mixture of odours”. Peng, M., Eyres, G., Szyszka, P. [Marsden Funded Scholarship]
  • Sakuni De Silva (PhD), “Recovery of high-value, natural flavour compounds from untapped food processing sources”. Eyres, G., Bremer, P., Silcock, P. [MBIE Project funding]
  • Stella Green (PhD), “Realising New Potential in New Zealand Oats for the Next Generation of Plant-Based Foods: A Solid State Fermentation Approach”. Eyres, G., Kebede, B., Agyei,  D. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship]
  • Emily Fanning (PhD), “Linking quality to geographical traceability”. Eyres, G., Kebede, B., Frew, R.
  • Chao (Rebecca) Yang (PhD), “Smoke flavour of food as a function of smoke generation parameters and smokehouse conditions”. [MBIE Project funding; FIET Program]
  • Nadeem Caco (PhD, Massey University), “Understanding and fine tuning the parameters that lead to desirable smoke aromas in culinary smoking”. [MBIE Project funding; FIET Program]

Previous students

  • Rebecca Roberts (PhD), “Understanding hop flavour in beer using high throughput volatile compound analysis”. Eyres, G., Silcock, P., Bremer, P., Biasioli, F. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship + external funding]
  • Parise Adadi (PhD), “Effect of sound on fermentation and flavour beer”. Eyres, G., Silcock, P., Bremer, P., Jeffs, A. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship + MBIE Smart Idea fuding]
  • Caleb Robinson (PhD; 2022). “Whole grains, Fibre and Health: Carbohydrate digestibility and the microbiome”. Eyres, G., Te Morenga, L., Perry, T., Haszard, J., Mann, J. [Riddet Institute funded PhD scholarship]
  • Andrea Warburton (PhD, 2021). “The Impact of Sensory Interactions on Flavour of Sourdough Bread”. Eyres, G., Silcock, P. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship]
  • Ryan High (PhD; 2021). “Evaluation of sheep milk flavour development using an integrated Chemometric and kinetics approach”. Bremer, P., Eyres, G., Kebede, B. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship]
  • Victoria Purdy (PhD; 2021). “Identifying unique flavour compounds in New Zealand hops to facilitate targeted breeding”. Eyres, G., Kebede, B., Silcock, P. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship].
  • Yuanyang Zhang (PhD; 2020). “Characterisation of volatile compounds in Manuka smoke”. Eyres, G., Silcock, P., Jones, J.R. [MBIE Project funding; FIET Program]
  • Marcus Loi (PhD; 2020). “Emulsifier technology to enhance emulsion stability in milk coffee beverages”. Eyres, G., Silcock, P. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship]
  • Tobias Richter (PhD; 2018), “Hop Aroma in Beer: the effect of yeast strain and fermentation conditions”. Bremer, P., Eyres, G., Silcock, P.
  • Rajkumar Nandakumar (PhD; 2018), “Understanding the impact of Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) processing on onion bulbs”. Oey, I., Burritt, D., Eyres, G. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship]
  • Zahra Haddadian (PhD; 2017). “Milkfat globule membrane and functionality in cheese”. Bremer, P., Eyres, G. [Riddet Institute funded PhD scholarship]
  • Zahra Zolfaghari (PhD; 2017), “Characterization and classification of New Zealand unifloral honeys”. Birch, J., Eyres, G. [UoO Doctoral Scholarship]
  • Ashly Kumar (MSc; 2020). “Impact of Yeast Strain and Fermentation on Perceived Hop Flavour in Beer.” Eyres, G., Bremer, P., Silcock, P. [Emerson’s JP Scholarship 2019]
  • Adam Rowe (MSc; 2017). “Characterisation of volatile organic compounds in NZ Honey”. Eyres, G., Birch, J.

Publications

Fanning, E., Eyres, G. T., Frew, R., & Kebede, B. (2025). Near-infrared spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis for the geographical origin traceability of New Zealand hops. Food & Bioprocess Technology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s11947-025-03776-y Journal - Research Article

Green, S., Eyres, G. T., Agyei, D., & Kebede, B. (2024). Solid-state fermentation: Bioconversions and impacts on bioactive and nutritional compounds in oats. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science & Food Safety, 23(6), e70070. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.70070 Journal - Research Article

Green, S., Kebede, B., Agyei, D., & Eyres, G. (2024). Realising the untapped potential of oats: A solid state fermentation approach. Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science & Technology (NZIFST) Conference: Diversity in the Food Industry. (pp. 9). Retrieved from https://nzifst.org.nz Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Eyres, G. (2024). Look up from the bench: How networking can help an academic / research career. Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science & Technology (NZIFST) Conference: Diversity in the Food Industry. (pp. 55). Retrieved from https://nzifst.org.nz Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Eyres, G. (2024). How innovation in hops and beer analysis can add value to industry in New Zealand. Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science & Technology (NZIFST) Conference: Diversity in the Food Industry. (pp. 26-27). Retrieved from https://nzifst.org.nz Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

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