Ayelet Fishman

Prof. Fishman and her team address consumer interest in healthy foods and protein alternatives that do not rely on animal sources. Her research mainly centers on green chemistry using natural biocatalysts, alternative proteins as meat replacements, and fermentation technology. For example, she has experimented in developing vegan gels used to produce chocolate pudding or gummy bears with the same texture as their animal-based counterparts, and with less sugar and oil and higher protein content.

Her group also conducts soil and water research. Working with the Technion Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, she helped develop an innovative, patented technology to purify water from the pollutant formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen used to manufacture glue and therefore common in the wood, paper, and textile industries, where it accumulates in the water used for production. Earlier, Prof. Fishman helped peanut farmers in Israel’s Negev develop a solution to keep their crop disease-free after determining that the soil disinfectant they had been using had become ineffective.

Prof. Fishman earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in biotechnology and food engineering from the Technion. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Connecticut. Prior to joining the Technion faculty in 2005, she was a research scientist and project leader at the TAMI-IMI Institute for Research and Development, a daughter company of Israel Chemicals Ltd., located in Haifa.

Prof. Fishman is an associate editor of Frontiers in Industrial Biotechnology and is active in several professional societies related to food and biocatalysis. She is also active in the organization of conferences at national and international levels.