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30 March 2021 | Story Cornelle Scheltema-Van Wyk
A cover image of the Perspectives in Education journal
Perspectives in Education (PiE) is one of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) accredited academic journals. Hosted on KovsieJournals with eight other accredited titles published by the UFS, PiE is a fully open-access journal, which means that all articles are freely available on the internet immediately after publication. A professional, peer-reviewed journal, PiE represents a variety of cross-disciplinary interests, both theoretical and practical, seeking to stimulate important dialogue and intellectual exchange on education and democratic transition with respect to schools, colleges, non-governmental organisations, universities, and universities of technology in South Africa and beyond.

Moving to the South Campus for Open Distance Learning 

The latest issue looked at the seismic disruptions brought about by COVID-19 in 2020, and the global challenges for education systems to promote and continue meaningful learning. Schools and colleges across the globe were closed, and teachers, students, schools, universities, and education planners had to create contingency plans. In the scholarly community, COVID-19 unsettled what we know, how we come to know, and how we should proceed from here onwards. It was the opportune moment for re-invigorated interrogation, rethinking discussion, and replanning education. An opportunity to rethink teaching and learning, the organisation of educational institutions, and the structure and workings of education systems, as well as to reflect once again on the objectives of education, and the interrelationship between education and society.

The issue features many national and international authors – from the UFS to authors from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Israel, Brazil, and Haiti. Its diverse content comes from a relatively new editorial team. Prof Jan Nieuwenhuis’ first issue as editor-in chief was published in 2020. The move to the South Campus for Open Distance Learning was accompanied by the journal’s application to be included in the internationally renowned accreditation list, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The DOAJ has strict inclusion criteria, and to be included on this list is a mark of a high-quality open-access academic journal. 

Just over a year after moving, PiE is now included in the DOAJ list and appears on four accredited lists (also DHET, IBSS, and Scopus). The journal has firmly cemented its place in the field of education and is broadening the reach of research for the University of the Free State

News Archive

UFS researchers are producing various flavour and fragrance compounds
2015-05-27

 

The minty-fresh smell after brushing your teeth, the buttery flavour on your popcorn and your vanilla-scented candles - these are mostly flavour and fragrance compounds produced synthetically in a laboratory and the result of many decades of research.

This research, in the end, is what will be important to reproduce these fragrances synthetically for use in the food and cosmetic industries.

Prof Martie Smit, Academic Head of the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology at the UFS, and her colleague Dr Dirk Opperman, currently have a team of postgraduate students working on the production of various flavour and fragrance compounds from cheap and abundantly available natural raw materials. 

Prof Smit explains that most of the flavours and fragrances that we smell every day, originally come from natural compounds produced mainly by plants.

“However, because these compounds are often produced in very low concentrations by plants, many of these compounds are today replaced with synthetically-manufactured versions. In recent times, there is an increasing negative view among consumers of such synthetic flavour and fragrance compounds.”

On the other hand, aroma chemicals produced by biotechnological methods, are defined as natural according to European Union and Food and Drug Administration (USA) legal definitions, provided that the raw materials used are of natural origin.  Additionally, the environmental impact and carbon footprint associated with biotech-produced aroma chemicals are often also smaller than those associated with synthetically-produced compounds or those extracted by traditional methods from agricultural sources.

During the last four years, the team investigated processes for rose fragrance, vanilla flavour, mint and spearmint flavours, as well as butter flavour. They are greatly encouraged by the fact that one of these processes is currently being commercialised by a small South African natural aroma chemicals company. Their research is funded by the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation through the South African Biocatalysis Initiative, the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Catalysis and the Technology Innovation Agency, while the UFS has also made a significant investment in this research.

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