Rate My Professor Aladin Bekhit

Professor Alaa El-Din Ahmed Bekhit, known as Aladin Bekhit, serves as Professor of Food Science in the Department of Food Science at the University of Otago within the Division of Sciences. He earned a BSc Honours from Alexandria University, an MSc in Food Process Engineering from the University of Reading in 1994, and a PhD in Biochemistry from Lincoln University in 2004. His career includes prior roles as a research scientist at AgResearch and lecturer at Lincoln University. Bekhit's diverse expertise in engineering, biochemistry, and food technology supports his interdisciplinary research approach. He coordinates courses such as FOSC 302 Food Preservation and Processing, along with advanced postgraduate modules on thermal processing and shelf life, and contributes to undergraduate papers on food components and systems.

Bekhit's research focuses on muscle biochemistry, factors controlling meat quality including colour and tenderness, waste utilization for recovering bioactive compounds from food by-products, processing interventions to improve food quality, alternative proteins, and halal food research. His scholarship is evidenced by over 24,897 citations, an h-index reflecting substantial impact, and 473 publications documented on ResearchGate. Key works include the review 'Total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) and its role in meat spoilage: A review' (2021, Trends in Food Science & Technology, 992 citations), 'Keratin: dissolution, extraction and biomedical application' (2017, Biomaterials Science, 590 citations), 'Metmyoglobin reducing activity' (2005, Meat Science, 466 citations), and 'Slaughterhouse blood: an emerging source of bioactive compounds' (2013, Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 336 citations). He has edited books like Advances in Edible Packaging Systems for Food Preservation (2026) and Fish Protein Hydrolysates. Bekhit serves on the editorial boards of Food Chemistry and Applied Food Research, and his projects have received funding from the Australian Meat Processor Corporation, MBIE, NZ Food Safety Science & Research Centre, and others. In 2023, he presented his Inaugural Professorial Lecture at the University of Otago.