Coordination

Dr. Johanna Mörlein

A mother of three with Avgolemono as one of her favourite foods.

Dr Johanna Mörlein researches food sensory analysis. Her first scientific thesis and a research stay at the Nofima sensory laboratory in Ås under the direction of Marit Rødbotten in 2011 were the starting point. In 2013 she collaborated with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Smell and Taste at the Technical University of Dresden under Prof. Dr. Thomas Hummel. Since then she has been researching human olfaction. In 2016, she completed her PhD on the human sensory perception of boar taint, 'Sensory Quality Control of Boar Taint'. Her thesis made an important contribution to the replacement of anaesthesia-free piglet castration with a possible alternative, and won two awards. In her scientific work in the sensory laboratory, she investigates the human-sensory aspects of food, including the agronomic context, such as the relationship between breeding/feeding/keeping/killing of farm animals and the effect on human-sensory product quality. In this way, Mörlein combines food sensory science and agricultural science.

Areas of expertise:

Sensory and consumer research, meat quality, sustainable agriculture, food culture

Academic career:

• Since 2024 Coordination of the Laboratory for Sensory Analysis and Consumer Research

• 2023-204 Science Manager at the Institute for Sugar Beet Research

• 2020-2023 Coordination of the Laboratory for Sensory Analysis and Consumer Research

• 2016-2019 BLE: Studies on the exemplary implementation of sustainable boar finishing at the farming, slaughtering and processing stages in organic farming (BÖLN 2811oe144)

• 2013-2016 Promotion Sensory Quality Control of Boar Taint BLE: Strategies to avoid odour deviations in the fattening of uncastrated male pigs (STRAT-E-GER).

• 2007-2013 M.Sc. Agricultural sciences 2013, B.Sc. Agricultural sciences2010

Research visits 2017 | 3 Weeks Instituto de Biotechnología, San Juan Province, Argentina 2014 | 3 Weeks University of Gastronomic Sciences, Bra, Italy 2011 | 4 Month Erasmus student at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås, Norway

Preise und Auszeichnungen:

• Agricultural Sciences Award 2016

• DLG Sensory Award 2016

Review activities:

• Food Research International

Teaching activities:

• B.Sc.740693 Sensory research and sensory marketing

• B.Sc. 0333 Product quality of animal products

• M.Sc. 0095 Sensory Analysis and Consumer Research

Neuste Publikationen:

• Forkel, Mörlein, Sulk, Beutner, Rohe, Schön, Geier, Buhl (2021): Work-related hazards due to oak processionary moths: a pilot survey on medical symptoms The Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, Volume35, Issue11, November 2021.

• Werner, Baldinger, Busseman, Büttner, Weißmann, Ciulu, Mörlein, J., Mörlein, D. (2021): Early Immunocastration of Pigs: From Farming to Meat Quality Animals 2021, 11(2), 298.

• Font‐i‐Furnols, Martín‐Bernal, Aluwé, Bonneau, Haugen, Mörlein, Mörlein, Panella‐Riera, Škrlep (2020): Feasibility of on/at Line Methods to Determine Boar Taint and Boar Taint Compounds: An Overview Animals 2020, 10, 1886; doi:10.3390/ani10101886

Further Publications

• Mörlein (2020): History of Pig Castration

• Mörlein et al. (2019): Sustainable use of tainted boar meat: Blending is a strategy for processed products

• Liu et al. (2017): Fatty acid composition and its association with chemical and sensory analysis of boar taint

• Trautmann et al. (2017): Noise and accustomation: A pilot study of trained assessors’ olfactory performance

• Mörlein et al. (2016): Interaction of Skatole and Androstenone in the Olfactory Perception of Boar Taint

• Trautmann & Mörlein (2016): Sensory Quality Control of Boar Taint

• Trautmann et al. (2016). Boar taint detection: A comparison of three sensory protocols

• Mörlein et al. (2015): Effects of context and repeated exposure on food liking: The case of boar taint

• Trautmann et al. (2014): How olfactory acuity affects the sensory assessment of boar fat: A proposal for quantification

• Meier-Dinkel et al. (2012): Consumer perception of boar meat as affected by labelling information, malodorous compounds and sensitivity to androstenone