DR. AFAF KAMAL-ELDIN - ADVANCING FOOD CHEMISTRY TO SUPPORT UAE FOOD SECURITY
From Innovation@UAE Magazine, Issue 4, English, October 2021
by UAE Ministry of Education

A question posed during Dr. Afaf Kamal-Eldin s thesis defense set her on a research investigation that has spanned more than 20 years. While defending her thesis on sesame oil, she was asked by her examiner why she had written that gamma-tocopherol was a more powerful antioxidant in vitro, while alpha-tocopherols were more powerful in vivo. At the end of it, she helped clarify the key mechanism in a type of vitamin E that has had a major impact on how this supplement functions as an antioxidant.

In 1993,  Dr. Afaf Kamal-Eldin, who served as a chair of the Department of Food Science at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), was a PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Uppsala

In 2010, Dr. Kamal-Eldin, seeking warmer climes, decided to move to the UAE, where she joined the UAEU as chair of and a professor in the Department of Food Science. There she pivoted her research to explore the untapped value of two traditional agricultural products dates and camel milk. She seeks to identify the mechanism in camel milk responsible for its anti-diabetic effect, while also exploring how to utilize the fibrous byproduct of date syrup production as a food supplement. Dr. Kamal-Eldin hopes her research into camel milk and dates will help the UAE achieve some of the goals of its National Food Security Strategy 2051, which aims to make the country the world leader in innovation-driven food security.

Food chemistry has a role in helping the UAE achieve its goal for food security with respect to the increasing quality and even quantity of the food produced in the country. I am particularly hoping to increase our utilization of our traditional produce of dates and camel milk, as they can be processed into different products with various functional and nutritional properties, she shared. Dr. Afaf Kamal-Eldin hopes her research into camel milk and dates will help the UAE achieve some of the goals of its National Food Security Strategy 2051, which aims to make the country the world leader in innovation-driven food security.