Graz University Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Food Chemistry to Lecture

Courtesy of Erich Leitner

Erich Leitner, professor of analytical chemistry and food chemistry at Graz Technical University, Austria.

All students, staff and faculty are invited to attend two seminars by Erich Leitner, professor of analytical chemistry and food chemistry at Graz Technical University, Austria.

The first presentation will be held at 3:30 p.m. Monday, March 14, in room 144 of the Chemistry Building, "GC-MS Applications for Odor and Off Odor Analysis," and hosted by Jack Lay. There will be a reception immediately following the seminar in CHEM 105.

The second presentation will be held at 9:30 a.m., Friday, March 18, in room D2 of the Food Science building, "The Role of University Food Science Research in Effectively Supporting Local and Regional Food Industry," and hosted by Andrew Proctor. There will be a coffee and donut reception at 9 a.m. prior to the seminar in room D2.

Leitner conducts state-of-the art food analysis in several sensory science laboratories with expertise in food and analytical chemistry. He uses these resources to enable a variety of small to medium sized food businesses in southeast Austria to maintain remarkably high quality of food products of the region. He will discuss how he uses his expertise to service his client's needs of unique high quality foods in a regional food industry while encouraging a spirit of energetic entrepreneurialism and social responsibility.          

Leitner obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in organic trace analysis from the Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Technical University, Graz, Austria. In 1993 he joined the faculty at Institute of Food Chemistry and Technology at TU, where he specialized in trace organic analysis. He is now at the Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Food Chemistry at TU conducting spectroscopic and chromatographic food analysis, focusing on flavor chemistry and human sensory analysis. His laboratory houses advanced chromatography instrumentation, including interface with mass spectrometers to identify odor and flavor compounds. He also has a trained expert human sensory panel and state-of-the-art sensory lab.

The combination of food analysis and sensory science provides him with a unique opportunity to serve the Austrian food industry. This includes routine food analysis and more complex industry problem-solving projects for a variety of companies in the milk and milk products, bakery, meat and meat products, and edible oils industries. He has a special focus on regional pumpkin seed and olive oil distillates, wine and beer production, and the effects of food packaging materials on food quality. He also serves the Austrian and European food industry by providing industry training courses in chromatography, chromatography-mass spectrometry and basic and advanced sensory science on various food commodities.

Leitner works closely with the regional food industry in Austria. He is visiting the University of Arkansas to explore the possibilities for developing a student exchange program in Food Science and possibly other areas, such as analytical chemistry. While on campus he will deliver research seminars in the Department of Food Science and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and meet with university faculty at these events. Leitner will also present other lectures at food analysis and food biochemistry classes and visit local Arkansas food industries as a guest of the Department of Food Science. This visit follows Proctor's Fulbright sabbatical at Graz University last semester during which Graz TU International Programs expressed interest in exchanging food science and technology students.