1970 - 1982
Professor J.A.F. Rook
instigated a reorganisation of the Institute following
the retiral of Dr Smith in 1970. This reflected a need
for research to be directed more towards the solution of
industrial problems. Three specialist departments
(Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physiology) were given
responsibility for research into scientific problems of
importance to either milk production or milk utilization.
A fourth, Applied Studies Department, was given the wider
role of conducting research with well defined practical
objectives while at the same time assisting the three
specialist departments with the practical exploitation of
their research findings. The name of the Institute was
changed to The
Hannah Research Institute for Studies Relating to the
Production and Utilization of Milk –
no short, punchy
acronyms in those days!
The three main areas of research at this time were thus:
- the
efficient production of nutrients and their utilization
by dairy cattle
- the
chemistry and physical chemistry of milk constituents,
especially protein, in relation to the nutritive role
and processing characteristics of milk
- the effect
of environment on the physiology of cattle. Towards the
end of the 1970s this research expanded into the area
of climate-related aspects of animal productivity and
included studies in thermoregulation; metabolic
response to cold; biology of the skin of cattle.
In 1977 the BBC transmitted a
film on silage making at the Institute with contributions
from Hannah staff.
Integrating the research of the Chemistry department with
the work of the Applied Studies department established a
better understanding of the relationship between the diet
of the cow, milk composition and the manufacturing
properties of the milk. Dietary manipulation produced a
butter having good spreadability characteristics at
refrigeration temperature.
In November 1979 the Institute was approached by a
distilling company which wished to introduce a
cream-based whisky liqueur onto the market but lacked the
necessary scientific and technical knowledge for the
formulation of the cream base. Experiments confirmed that
the temperature instability of cream liqueur was related
to the presence of milk serum components and, by the
addition of a stabiliser, a formulation was obtained that
met the criteria for stability required by the distillers
and allowed commercial production to begin.
In 1981, Malcolm Peaker succeeded John Rook as director
of the Institute and there followed a reorganisation of
departments:
-
Animal
Nutrition and Production
- To
establish a basis for the development of integrated
crop production and animal production systems
offering optional farming strategies to meet market
requirements for milk
-
Chemistry
and Physics of Milk
- The
partitioning of milk protein between soluble and
colloidal phases under different conditions and the
implications of this for processing
- The
chemical nature of milk proteins and the types of
reaction caused by processing (eg heating)
- The
physical chemistry of milk constituents and the
interactions between them
-
Lipid
Biochemistry and Enzymology
- Biochemical factors
governing the supply of nutrients, especially
lipids, to the mammary gland and thence into milk
-
Milk
Untilisation
- Applied
research related to the manufacture of milk
products
-
Director’s
Group
- The
study of mammary physiology: the control of the
number and activity of mammary cells in relation to
the factors determining milk yield and the cellular
mechanisms of milk secretion