Dr. Helene Hopfer

Dr. Helene Hopfer

Assistant Professor

Department:  Food Science
College:  College of Agricultural Sciences
Address:  218 Food Science Building
Phone:  814-863-5572
E-mail:  hopfer@psu.edu
Website:  http://foodscience.psu.edu/directory/hxh83

The Hopfer Lab
Research in Dr. Hopfer’s lab is focused on the intersection of human sensory science and flavor chemistry. We are interested in how the chemical composition of food and non-food impacts human perception, particularly aroma and flavor. We combine sensory science, analytical chemistry and multivariate statistics to elucidate the impact of production, processing, storage and presentation on perception. We are also interested in improving the flavor of fruits and vegetables through the incorporation of sensory science into the breeding process. Lastly, we are studying how the geographical origin of food can be measured.

Recent and current projects in her laboratory focus on:

  • linking human flavor perception to plant genetics using cocoa as a model system
  • utilizing cross-modal interactions to reduce sugar addition in food products
  • studying flavor release and flavor adsorption in novel inclusion complexes
  • using phenotypes of oral food manipulation to understand food satisfaction
  • monitoring changes in coffee flavor throughout different storage conditions
  • understanding the impact of viticultural and enological interventions on flavor of wine and wine acceptability