My name is Susanne and I am from the Netherlands. I studied Food Technology at Wageningen University (Wageningen, The Netherlands) and I obtained my master degree in Food Biotechnology & Biorefining in 2019. In August the same year I came to live in Bussolengo, VR, with my Italian boyfriend. Therefore it may not surprise you that I also speak Italian.

In November the same year I started my PhD at Università di Trento and Fondazione Edmund Mach. I will study polysulfide formation in wine using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, in order to get greater insight in the role of these compounds for aroma and off-flavours in wine. My interest is understanding the relationship between polysulfide formation and free volatile thiols, of which the latter are very important compounds for tropical, fruity or even “green” aromas. Proper analysis of free thiols and their precursors has been an issue due to the low concentrations in wine, but their study is an ongoing topic of interest for the wine industry. During my 3 year of PhD I will be exploring a novel UHPLC-HRMS method for the successful analysis of polysulfide and thiols. (2019 – 2022).

PhD project: Impact of agronomical and technological factors on the polysulfides formation and fate in wines

Supervisor : Dr. Tiziana Nardin, Dr. Roberto Larcher

Email address: susanne.dekker@unitn.it, susanne.dekker@fmach.it