As a scientist and teacher, Zoya Vasilenko developed useful supplements from natural raw materials

Harvesting is pleasing: the yield of most crops is at least at the level, or even better than last year’s indicators. But not enough to grow - you need to be able to save everything and process as much as possible. This is the task that the Head of State sets for farmers. For more than 50 years, the development of technologies for food production has been carried out by an outstanding scientist in the field of food industry, doctor of technical sciences, professor, corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Zoya Vasilenko. For 45 years she headed the department of technology of production of public food and meat products of the Belarusian State University of Food and Chemical Technologies. Today, at 80 years old, he is still in service.

- Hunger... And that despite the fact that we had a cow. I remember my older sister always saying, “You drink more milk and bite off less bread.” I went to school when I was six because I was bored at home. Together with me, students who were already fit to go to 6-7th grade. In winter, when it was very shallow, an older boy came for me and took me to school on a sled. When I moved to the 5th grade, I became interested in a foreign language, and then fell in love with chemistry.

- How did it happen that after graduating from high school with a silver medal, you went to work in a sugar factory as a laboratory assistant?

- After a decade, she wanted to enter the Moscow Food Institute, then return to the sugar factory where her parents worked. After two fives and three fours, she went home. September is coming to an end and there is no call. And then a letter comes: since I did not show up for class, I can only be enrolled in the correspondence department. The next year she decided to enter the Mendeleev Russian Chemical and Technological University. She passed exams at 4 and 5, but did not pass: only 5 percent of schoolchildren were recruited. And then the rumor went that Plekhanovka is not enough. So at the age of 17, I entered the Plekhanov Moscow Institute of National Economy with a degree in “technology and organization of food production”.

- The third year of your life has become a fateful one.

- Under the direction of the dean, I started doing science. Vladimir Baranov proposed to study the gelatinous properties of agaroid obtained from seaweed. From that moment on, I spent all my free time in a laboratory or library. And the thesis was on the same subject. After graduation, the rector offered to go as an assistant teacher to the branch of Plekhanovka - the Far Eastern Institute of Soviet Trade. I agreed, but before three years of graduate school in Moscow, and then went to the Far East. How did you and your husband end up in Mogilev in 1974?

- I was elected head of the Department of “Technology and catering” of the newly formed Mogilev Institute of Technology. The department is not staffed, there is no laboratory - as well as time for adaptation and rocking. Every day I had to prove my competence. The rector was very supportive. In just four months, we opened not one, but two laboratories. I raised the footage myself. From the first edition of the best left in his department. In coordination with the rector Plekhanovka decided the issue of their training in Moscow in graduate school.

- All your scientific activities are related to solving the most important problems facing the food industries of the country. Take at least rapeseed..

- It is one of the most marginal crops in the agricultural production of Belarus. Its cake and meal are rich in complete protein. They contain more than 30 percent fiber and 36 to 38 percent protein, which contains all the essential amino acids. Plus vitamins and minerals: potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese.

Today, cake and meal of rapeseed oil seeds are used only in the diet of animals. Human nutrition is not used: the glucosinolates contained in them give a bitter taste.

Our studies have shown that the technological properties they are not only not inferior to the cake and meal of soybeans, but also significantly exceed them. Research is needed to reduce glucosinolate levels and to increase the use of cake and rapeseed meal in food production. This will significantly increase the added value of agricultural products. The key factor is the non-waste processing of culture. There are developments on the use of rapeseed cake in bakery and other foods.

Much experimented with cocoa beans, because only 30 percent of the product went into production, the rest – in cake. We have developed the technology and formulation for the fine grinding of cocoawella, which is a hard shell that makes up 12 to 17 percent of the mass of the entire bean. Now it makes a good chocolate glaze.

The faculty of the department. Mogilev, 1997. The proposed processing of plant raw materials into pectin-containing products and the production of new food products on its basis have found followers not only in Belarus.

- One of the main tasks facing food industry enterprises today is the creation of a market for therapeutic, dietary, preventive and functional products. The bet is on local raw materials. With some technologies for processing fruits and vegetables, secondary waste accounts for almost half of its volume, and no more than 20 percent is processed. To ensure that all these valuable substances are not lost, comprehensive waste-free processing of agricultural raw materials is necessary. Our research has shown that the extracts of berries, fruits and fruits contain a large number of biologically active compounds that can improve the health of each of us, reducing the risk of developing diseases. The emphasis on maximum processing, which creates high added value, is constantly made by the President. How was your doctoral work put into practice?

- In laboratory conditions, they created a technology for obtaining apple-pectin paste from the squeezes of apples and black ash, introduced it at the Bobruisk Sokomours Plant - it operated in Soviet times. Domestic pectin additive, developed by our department, began to use confectionery factories "Kommunarka", "Spartak", "Red digestive".

Alas, the original domestic technology of obtaining dry apple-pectin powder, effectively freeing the human body from heavy metals and toxins, which could save the country hundreds of thousands of dollars, remained unclaimed. In Belarus, new gardens and berry plantations are constantly being laid to have products for the production of juice. Priceless (literally) squeezing remains unused. But domestic pectin is an excellent alternative to foreign scarce and expensive raw materials. Healthy nutrition is your new scientific direction – nutrition.

- Next year, our university will announce the first admission to a new specialty “food production technology and nutrition in the food industry”. Students will study the effects of food on the human body, preventive approaches to health through proper nutrition.

- Does the food have to be individual?

- I will. And the methods of cooking should be treated more selectively. Now on hearing low-temperature (not higher than plus 60 - 70 degrees) baking. Its essence is a slow and uniform heating of the product, which allows you to save more vitamins and minerals, as well as flavoring compounds.

- Today, 11 of your students work at the department. Pedagogy is part of my life. It is always a pleasure to deal with young people, to open up new horizons and answer their questions. This is my happiness as a researcher and as a teacher. How do you assess our Belarusian products?

- Above all praise! And milk, bread, and meat processing are our pride. Thanks in large part to the President! I have met with the Head of State three times. In May of this year, Alexander Grigorievich presented me with the medal of Francisk Skaryna, in 2013 - when he was awarded the Order of Honor and in 1994, when Alexander Grigorievich ran for the presidency for the first time. He spoke at our institute. He talked about the development of the country, about prospects, about opportunities. It seemed unrealistic at the time, but today, just over 30 years later, we see it firsthand. Strong independent country, strong enterprises, developed agriculture. We live in prosperity and peace. What else? Just save and multiply everything. This year, when the President presented me with the award, I said thank you for the country, for the world, for a happy life, for caring for the people. He wished him health and longevity.

tyshkevich@sb.by