Yasara Wickramasinghe

I am a passionate researcher with a strong foundation in chemistry, food science, and environmental science. I also worked as a Teaching Assistant at the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon (ICHEM) for a year, which helped me grow both personally and professionally. I am a researcher who is passionate about solving real-world problems through research.

I am currently pursuing my PhD at CASS HyTECH, Deakin University. My research focuses on protecting the provenance of Australian sugarcane by-products, working on an industry-related project with placements at The Product Makers Pty Ltd. (TPM). I’m using advanced tools like GC-MS and LC-MS to produce a chemical fingerprint of authentic Australian sugarcane by-products and benchmarking them against global and commercial products. I hope my work will leave a lasting impact on both the industry and the community.

Education and Research Background

I completed my BSc in Chemistry at the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon, Sri Lanka, where my research focused on studying essential oils form Nymphaea species (Manel flowers). I then pursued a MSc in Food Science and Technology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, where my research focused on developing a herbal tea from Moringa oleifera leaves. Later, I completed a second MSc in Environmental Science and Engineering at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, supported by a prestigious Chinese Government Scholarship.

Publications

Wickramasinghe, Y. W. H., Wickramasinghe, I., & Wijesekara, I. (2020). Effect of Steam Blanching, Dehydration Temperature & Time, on the Sensory and Nutritional Properties of a Herbal Tea Developed from Moringa oleifera Leaves. Int J Food Sci, 2020, 5376280. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/5376280

Wickramasinghe, W. Y. H., Zhang, L. (2022). Life Cycle Assessment of Sensible, Latent and Thermochemical Thermal Energy Storage Systems for Climate Change Mitigation – A Systematic Review. Journal of Energy Technologies and Policy, 12(05), 17-31. https://doi.org/10.7176/jetp/12-5-02

Wickramasinghe, W.Y.H., Wickramasinghe, I., Ariyasinghe, H. A. E. N. and Wijesekara, I. (2018). Effect of dehydration temperature, time and blanching methods on the sensory properties of an herbal tea developed from Moringa oleifera leaves. Research Symposium on Pure and Applied Sciences, 2018 Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. p37. http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/19121

Chamara A.M.R., Kuganesan A., Dolawatta K.D., Amarathunga I.M., Wickramasinghe W.Y.H., Madushani Y.M.P.K. and Thiripuranathar G: Evaluation of bioactivities of two polyherbal formulations found in Sri Lankan Ayurvedic treatments. Int J Pharm Sci & Res 2018; 9(5): 2073-79. doi: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.9(5).2073-79

Research Area and Skills

Food science, Chemistry, Sugarcane by-products, GC-MS, LC-MS, HP-TLC, Product authenticity, Adulteration detection, Untargeted metabolomics