Owen Catchpole

Team Leader, Chief Engineer

Biotechnologies

Leader in Industrial Supercritical Extraction

I am the Team Leader and Chief Engineer in the Food Processing and Biotechnologies research group. Here my chemical engineering background gets applied to the development of extraction, separation and fractionation processes for the production of nutraceuticals, functional foods, dietary supplements and cosmeceuticals. Using biologically derived raw materials we work from laboratory-scale up to a semi-commercial scale.

Our research has led to the establishment of supercritical extraction as a new industrial process in New Zealand. This included building and running NZ’s first commercial supercritical extraction plant. As a result we have enabled a range of high value products, supporting process and product patents for both New Zealand and international companies.

I now work establishing food processing technology expertise in Auckland, and work closely with the FINNZ network.

I am proud of being Callaghan Innovation’s first Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Aparangi.

Areas of expertise

Supercritical extraction – processing & products
Chemical, process & food engineering
Functional food & nutraceutical product development
Tech transfer & scale-up
Bee products (honey & propolis)
Marine lipid products and processing

Education

B. Chemical Eng (1st Hons), University of Canterbury, NZ
PhD Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, UK

Memberships and awards

FRSNZ, 2022
FEngNZ, 2010
Member ACS, AOCS, NZIC, NZIFST
NZ Science & Technology Silver Medal (RSNZ), 2002
NZIC Fonterra Prize for Industrial and Applied Research, 2009

Selected publications

Perspectives on processing of high value lipids using supercritical fluids, Catchpole, O.; Moreno, T.; Montañés, F.; Tallon, S., J. Supercritical Fluids (30th anniversary edition), 2018, 134, 260-268.
Anti-gastrointestinal cancer activity of cyclodextrin-encapsulated propolis, Catchpole, O.; Mitchell, K.; S. Bloor, S.; Davis, P.; Suddes, A., J. Functional Foods, 2018, 41, 1-8.
Integrated supercritical fluid extraction and bioprocessing, Catchpole, O.; Tallon, S.; Dyer, P.; Montañés, F.; Morena, T.; Vagi, E.; Eltringham, W,; Billakanti, J., American J. Biochemistry & Biotechnology, 2012, 8(4), 263-267.
Semi-preparative supercritical chromatography scale plant for polyunsaturated fatty acids purification, Montanes, F.; Catchpole, O.; Tallon, S.; Mitchell, K.; Lagutin, K., J. Supercritical Fluids, 2013, 79, 46-54.
Catchpole, O.J.; Grey, J.B.; MacKenzie, A.D.; Tallon, S.J.; Extraction of highly unsaturated lipids with liquid dimethyl ether. 2006, NZ 547429, WO2007136281, US8383845, AU2013257434.