Food Analysis Training Course under Partnership Program with National University of Laos (NUL)

The FA Training Course with NUL was successfully organized from 26 to 30 June 2023. The program was implemented both online and on-site, hosted by the Department of Rural Economics and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, NUL. The program was joined by 39 participants which consisted of 8 academic staff, 22 students, 1 private company, and 8 from the public sector. 10 lecturers with noted expertise in food analysis from the well-known Japanese and Singaporean public and private sectors were invited and shared their practical knowledge based on their wide experiences in the field of food analysis, which were composed of cutting-edge knowledge on food analysis-related topics such as Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS), JAS Testing Methods, Standardization in Food Industries, the Development of Functional Agricultural Products and the Use of Functional Food Labeling Systems in Japan, Basic Understanding and Key Points of ISO/IEC17025, β-cryptoxanthin as Functional Components for Human Health, and Hands-on Training with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

During the hands-on training session, the participants were divided into small groups to experience the JAS Testing method. The participants learned and tried the method of how to detect β-cryptoxanthin in mandarin orange from the pretreatment/sample preparation to HPLC data analysis in a consistent way, as well as how to handle each apparatus and reagent properly.