Dr. R. Mahendran is a Professor at the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur (NIFTEM-Thanjavur). He has acquired a B. Tech (Chemical Engineering), M. Tech (Industrial Biotechnology) and Ph.D. in Food Process Engineering. Prior to his association with NIFTEM-Thanjavur, he worked as a Production Officer in Krebs Biochemicals and Industries Ltd. Nellore, Andhra Pradesh and as a Scientist in the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India at New Delhi from 2006 to 2010. Dr. Mahendran joined NIFTEM-Thanjavur in 2010 and presently heading the Department of Food Process Technology, which housed School of Sensory Sciences, Centre of Excellence in Nonthermal Processing, one of the unique centres in the world and the first in Asia.

Dr. Mahendran’s research focus includes Advances in Food Processing Technologies, novel nonthermal processing including Cold plasma, High Pressure Processing applications in Agri-Food, Food structure & shape transformation (4D printing) and Super Critical CO2 Extraction. Mahendran has authored over 150 publications in reputed journals. He has been awarded with Dr. V. Subrahmanyan, Best Scientist Award for the year 2021 for his outstanding research contributions and received “Best Whole Grain Researcher - South Asia - 2023 Award” from Whole Grains Research Foundation, Canada. He is a fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (IEI). Dr. Mahendran is a Life member of various professional bodies, and he is the Vice President of Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) – AFSTi for the year 2025. Dr. Mahendran has got two patents and edited three books on nonthermal food processing.

Presently, Dr. R. Mahendran is an Editorial board member in
Trends in Food Science and Technology (IF 15.1);
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (IF: 12.0);
Journal of Food (IF:2.0);
Journal of Food Process Engineering (IF: 2.7);
Journal of Food Processing and Preservation (IF:2.0);
Journal of Food Bioengineering;
and Associate Editor in Journal of Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods (IF: 4.6).

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