Principal aims
The Food Technologies Laboratory is widely equipped to carry out research activities in the food sector. There are specific equipment for the study on food storage and shelf-life and the analysis in a wide field of matrices. There are instruments for the analysis of compounds in liquid and gaseous phase together with instruments for spectrophotometric analysis. The Food Technologies Laboratory also carries out food sensory analysis research activities and has specific instrumentation and trained personnel for its use. The laboratory is equipped with modern instrumentation for physical and texture analysis of food and food packaging materials. The laboratory is also equipped with instrumentation for the sample preparation, fume hoods, laminar flow hoods, all for physico-chemical and microbiological analysis. Inside the laboratory many activities are carried out regarding the assistance to the students for the preparation of the thesis, the traineeships both for the three-year and master's degree courses (specialist). In addition, laboratory experiments are carried out in the ambit of the academic disciplines. In the laboratory there are also meetings and practical demonstrations for the benefit of high school students who are approaching the university world.
The staff working inside the laboratory relate with other laboratories that operate in national and international territory. Research units are actively engaged in conducting research projects involving the AGR 15 disciplinary sector in regional and national projects. The laboratory is engaged in collaborations with food companies located in the regional and extra-regional areas. All this work commitment leads to the publication of numerous and cited scientific articles in international journals indexed by SCOPUS and with impact factor.
Research activities
The group is composed of a Full Professor, an Associate Professor, 3 researchers and a fixed-term researcher, all in the Scientific Disciplinary Sector AGR / 15 - Food Science and Technology. In addition, 4 scholarship holders / grant holders are employed in the structure.
The activities are aimed at the enhancement of food products, through the study of the chemical-physical and sensorial composition of food matrices, as well as on conservation techniques. Particular emphasis is given to the enhancement of the agri-food in the Calabria region (South Italy).
In order to achieve the enhancement objectives, the group studies the technologies for many food processing chains such as:
- conservation and packaging,
- stabilization technologies of food products using conventional and innovative methods and study of the qualitative variation of the product,
- transformation technologies such as dehydration, extraction, controlled fermentation on food;
- the chemical, physical and sensorial characterization of food production.
In particular, the longitudinal arguments of the studied supply chain are:
- innovative technologies for the production of oil and table olives,
- dairy production with particular reference to the protection of typical products,
- oenological productions, with particular reference to the enhancement of wines from Calabrian grape varieties,
- technologies for the exploitation of by-products obtained from the oil and citrus industries,
- enhancement of vegetables through dehydration to obtain products with high nutritional value,
- ready-to-eat products and minimally treated vegetables,
- preservation of meat products,
- stabilization of ready and semi-finished dishes for ready meals based on vegetables and meat,
- vegetable oils for food use and for the preparation of biodiesel,
- influence of agronomic factors on plant production for food and non-food use,
- processing and conservation technologies applied to citrus fruits and citrus fruit juices,
- conservation technologies applied to the shelf-life of small fruits;
- bakery products technologies;
- added functional properties food products technologies;
- enhancement of licorice cultivated in Calabria;
- use of carbon dioxide in the supercritical phase;
- Valorisation of by-products of the food industries (oil, vegetables, and fruit processing).
International relationships
- Department of Agro-Food Technology, Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Elche (Alicante - Spain)
- Institut of General Organic Chemistry (CSIC). Superior Council of Scientific Investigations Juan de la Cierva, 3 28006 Madrid (Spain)
- Nutrition and Food Science Department-XaRTA-INSA, University of Barcelona, Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus, Avda. Prat de la Riba, 171. Edifici Gaudí. 08921 Santa Coloma de Gramenet (Spain).
- National School of Agronomy, ENSA Hassan Badi El Harrach Alger (Algeria).
- Department of Horticulture, kongwon National University Chunchan 200-701, (Korea)
- Department of Plants and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Tástrup, (Denmark)
Smart Specialisation Strategy Calabria (S3 Calabria)
Agroalimentare / Food Farming
| Marco Poiana |
Table olives, olive oil, vegetables, cheeses, bakery products, treatments and food characterization, shelf life, by –product valorization |
LS9_5 - Agriculture related to crop production, soil biology and cultivation, applied plant biology |
| Antonio Mincione |
Olive oil, vegetable oils, dairy products, food storage, functional food, wine, bakery products, sensory analysis, texture analysis, consumer science |
LS9_5 - Agriculture related to crop production, soil biology and cultivation, applied plant biology |
| Vincenzo Sicari |
Characterization of biomolecules with antioxidant activity, food preservation, valorization of agricultural products and by-products. |
LS9_5 - Agriculture related to crop production, soil biology and cultivation, applied plant biology |
| Angelo Maria Giuffrè |
Olive oil, vegetable oils, vegetables, dairy products, preservation, packaging, antioxidants, wine, small fruits, bakery products |
LS9_5 - Agriculture related to crop production, soil biology and cultivation, applied plant biology |
| Amalia Rosa Maria Piscopo |
Olives, oil, vegetables, dairy products, preservation, packaging, antioxidants |
LS9_5 - Agriculture related to crop production, soil biology and cultivation, applied plant biology |
