Dr Jonathan Wilkin

Teaching
Research

My teaching is an important part of my academic career in 91快播; my professional values for teaching closely follow employability and application of knowledge.听 I am a Fellow of HEA and a module tutor on the following modules for the BSc Food and Consumer Science:

FOD306 - Food Safety and Quality Management
FOD404 - New Product Development 2

As part of the wider community within 91快播, I am a module tutor for an elective module:

ELE024 鈥� Food fads, facts and fiction

Other teaching commitments within the degree programme are:

FOD405 - New Topics in Food 鈥� 1 lecture
FOD404 - New Product Development 1 鈥� Co-Teach
ELE006 - Global Change 鈥� Guest lecture
ELE007 - Cities of the future: Science Fiction to Science Fact 鈥� Guest lecture
ENV309 - Food and Water Security and Sustainability 鈥� Guest lectures (4 hours)

At 91快播, we understand the impact University life can have on each individual and therefore alongside Kathryn Cairnie-Lyall, we provide academic support to our fourth year students on Food and Consumer Sciences, Fitness Nutrition and Health, and Food Nutrition and Health BSc's.

Interests

My research focuses on the intersection of food science, nutrition, and food processing, with a particular interest in enhancing the nutritional and functional quality of both traditional and novel food products. My work explores the impact of processing techniques鈥攕uch as fermentation, germination, malting, ultrasonication, and thermal treatments鈥攐n the nutritional composition, techno-functional properties, digestibility, and sensory characteristics of cereals, legumes, seaweeds and composite foods. I have contributed to the development of fortified products including insect-enriched porridge and Moringa-infused baked goods, with an emphasis on sustainable and culturally relevant innovations for improving food security.

I also specialise in the use of gas chromatography鈥搈ass spectrometry (GC-MS) and related metabolomics approaches, to study the chemical and volatile profiles of food systems. Research includes investigations into the Maillard reaction, storage stability of oil-rich seeds and nuts, and the metabolomic characterisation of fermented cereal and legume products. Alongside this, I have a growing interest in seaweed consumerism, particularly in understanding how seaweed varieties such as Alaria esculenta and other brown seaweeds can be optimised for texture, digestibility, and consumer acceptance in functional food applications. Through this work, I aim to bridge the gap between food science innovation and real-world applications in nutrition, public health, and sustainable food systems.

More Information

Funding

Number of grants: 26		Total value: 拢3,841,133.24 GDP
Title of project	Role in project	Source and scheme	Year	Duration	Total grant amount
BioSwel - Biotechnological Innovations for Optimised Seaweed Wellness & Economic Levelling-up	Co-I	Innovate UK	2024	12 months	拢300,000.00
KTP 91快播 and Growers Garden Limited	Co-I	Innovate UK	2023	32 months	拢239,366.50
Reformulation of a Fish Bite to increase the Fibre content.听	PI	Interface	2023	3 months	拢9,979.70
Reformulation of BiaGo drink to increase fibre and protein.听	PI	Interface	2023	3 months	拢9,992.20
Taylors Crisps KTP听	Co-I	Innovate UK	2023	28 months	拢224,520.72
Collaborative development of a fortifying functional food ingredient testing in industrial facilities and human trials.听	PI	Innovate UK	2023	18 months	拢431,540.00
Reformulating a range of products to lower salt and calorie content.听	PI	Interface	2023	3 months	拢9,992.20
Development of seaweed-based 鈥楨nglish breakfast鈥� black tea for improved nutrition and cardiovascular health support in postmenopausal women	Co-I	Innovate UK	2023	24 months	拢373,764.00
Building KTP capacity at 91快播	PI	Innovate UK	2023	3 months	拢18,189.32
Antimicrobial efficacy of chitosan used a biopolymer for food packaging - CuanTec	Co-I	IBioIC	2023	3 months	拢19,263.31
CessCon - Valorisation of marine growth waste	Co-I	IBioIC	2022	3 months	拢19,888.29
Nutrigo - SIICF	Co-I	Interface	2021	3 months	拢10,000
Low Carbon Challenge Fund (LCCF) STAGE 2: Transform - Net Zero	Co-I	Scottish Enterprise / ERDF EU	2021	2 years	拢380,294
Stirling Potatoes Ltd. To develop innovative new products and packaging solutions which optimise the use of fresh vegetable produce.	Co-I	KTP Innovate UK	2019	2 years	拢172,361
WJ Knox Ltd. To develop commercial products obtained from the waste material from fish net servicing processes.	Co-I	KTP Innovate UK	2018	2 years	拢160,116
Meatsnacks Ltd., Developing a sustainable jerky product for the global meatsnacks market	Co-I	KTP Innovate UK	2018	2 years	拢148,074
FishFrom Ltd.: Re-use of waste streams to enable development of systems for a land-based recirculation aquaculture system and salmon farming operation.	Co-I	KTP Innovate UK	2018	3 years	拢219,020
Colbeggie fruits Ltd., Recovering bioactives from fruit waste	PI	KTP Innovate UK	2018	3 years	拢212,469
Mitigating strategies against acrylamide formation in baked goods	Co-I	KTP Innovate UK	2018	3 years	拢307,194
Modeling the pathways of toxicant formation in emissions from heated vaporized nicotine delivery devices	Co-I	The Carnegie Trust	2017	2 years	拢49,995
Antimicrobial and antioxidant edible films and coatings prepared from chitosan and bio-agents and their application in seafood preservation	Co-I	Newton Fund, Royal Society of Engineering NRCP1617/6/136	2017	1 year	拢15,950
Rannoch Smokery, Product Range Enhancement	PI	KTP Innovate UK	2016	2 years	拢120,000
Dawnfresh Ltd.- Trout Characterisation	Co-I	Interface Competition	2016	1 year	拢49,612
Mackies of Scotland Ltd., Creation of consumer acceptable chocolate	Co-I	KTP Innovate UK	2015	2 years	拢122,030
Omega Products Developments Ltd., Creation of consumer acceptable seaweed products	PI	KTP Innovate UK	2015	2 years	拢93,203
Ivan Wood and Sons Ltd., Validation of a starch removal system	PI	KTP Innovate UK	2015	2 years	拢124,319
Various Innovation vouchers (not counted in totals) ~ 20 individual ones	PI	Interface	2011-2016	3 months each	拢5,000 each

Esteem

External Examiner (Teaching)
- Glasgow Caledonian University 鈥� September 2017-2021 鈥� Food Bioscience MSc & BSc
- Ulster University 鈥� September 2017-June 2022 鈥� Consumer Management and Food Innovation BSc
- Greenwich University 鈥� September 2021-present 鈥�
  - MSc Applied Food Safety and Quality Management (NRI)
  - MSc Applied Food Safety and Quality Management with Industrial Practice
  - MSc Food Safety and Quality Management e-Learning (E-Learning) (NRI)
- The University of Central Lancashire 鈥� October 2023 鈥� present - MSc Food Safety Management
- Lincoln University 鈥� October 2023 - present 鈥� MSc International Food Safety, Sustainability, and Innovation
External Examiner (Research)
- University of Johannesburg 鈥� September 2020 - MRes
- Ulster University 鈥� March 2023 鈥� PhD
Professional bodies
- Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST)
Member (2011- 2018),

Fellow (March 2018 鈥� present),

Member of Scottish Committee (2014 - present) 鈥� Branch Secretary

Chartered Scientist (October 2021 鈥� present)

Membership Assessment Panel (October 2021 鈥� present)

CPD Assessor (April 2022 鈥� present)
Visiting researcher
- University of Johannesburg听

Knowledge Exchange

I have been a PI/ co-applicant on over 12 Knowledge Transfer Partnership鈥檚 (KTP):

The main body of work involves and my speacilism is in:

Recovery of waste
Seaweed consumerism
New product development,
Food hygiene and safety
Processing, up-scaling / technical solutions
Marketing and consumer research

Outreach

听

Dr Wilkin has a strong track record in science communication, public engagement, and education outreach. His early involvement included leading 鈥淗ow the Cookie Crumbles鈥� with Baldragon Academy as part of Dundee Science Festival (2012) and collaborating with Websters High School in Kirriemuir and The Prince鈥檚 Trust to develop a new food product (2014鈥�2015). He has also worked closely with Home Economics teachers across Scotland, co-creating CPD events to support curriculum development (2024) and hosting public-facing activities such as the Dundee Food and Flower Festival in the Discovery Tent (2014) and TeachMeet at St John鈥檚 RC High School.

He has appeared on several high-profile media platforms to promote food science, including BBC鈥檚 Fake Britain (2015), STV鈥檚 Too Good to Waste 鈥� Passing It On... (2014), and The Beechgrove Garden (2013). Additionally, he created a suite of educational food science videos for chemistry teachers on core topics like the Maillard Reaction, lipid oxidation, enzymic browning, smoking, TLC, and emulsions. Dr Wilkin has also contributed to events such as Caf茅 Science (2015), the Friends of Dundee University Botanical Gardens lecture series (2015), and served as a Scotland Food & Drink Federation Ambassador.

More recently, he was an invited speaker at 鈥淭he Future of Food鈥� event for Dundee Food Festival and IFST鈥檚 60th anniversary celebration held at the V&A Dundee (2024). His invited lectures include talks for FDF Scotland & Interface on reformulation for health (2024), the Scottish Parliament鈥檚 Cross-Party Group on Food on Net Zero transitions (2022), REHIS on hurdle technology and preservation (2022), and international engagements such as Nha Trang University in Vietnam on green extractions (2017). He has also delivered multiple lectures on food reformulation and new product development at Interface events and Osnabr眉ck University of Applied Sciences in Germany.