Applied Microbiology

Training objectives.
Through a learning-by-doing approach, the course aims to provide students with i) the technical/scientific knowledge relating to the most common protocols implemented in an environmental and food microbiology laboratory; ii) the ability to define the methods and analytical procedures to be adopted to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the quality/process and safety indicator microorganisms of a food along its entire production chain starting from the raw material; iii) the operational tools necessary to apply the notions of industrial microbiology in the laboratory.
Expected learning outcomes.
At the end of the course students will be able to carry out the most common activities of an environmental and food microbiology laboratory, they will be able to design, organize and carry out experimental protocols for the correct identification of microorganisms of food interest as well as critically approach the various steps of a food process in order to develop the risk analysis. At the end of the course, students will also be able to organize and carry out the operations of setting up a biotechnological process, starting from the laboratory scale and will be able to associate macro- and micro-morphology of the microbial groups most used on an industrial scale.
Teaching organisation
Exercises: 8 hours
Laboratories: 20 hours
Lessons: 34 hours
Program.
Preparation of culture media for the cultivation and maintenance of microorganisms of environmental and food interest. Cultivation of microorganisms in pure culture. Isolation of microorganisms from environmental and food samples. Quantification of the microbial load through the vital count method. Description of the bacterial colony. Performing Gram staining on bacterial cultures. Carrying out sugar fermentation tests in pure cultures of microorganisms isolated from food matrices. The concept of bacterial species: phenotypic, genetic, phylogenetic characteristics. The principles of in vitro DNA amplification (PCR) and the methodologies used in microbial identification. Target genes, construction of primers, use of genomic databases. Extraction, quantification and electrophoretic analysis of microbial DNA. Performance of PCR analyzes for the identification of microorganisms of food interest.
Microbiological aspects of the most important food products (milk and derivatives, cereals and derivatives, meat and derivatives, fruit and vegetables, water, soft drinks, low aw products). Guidelines for preparing microbiological analyzes on food samples (qualitative and quantitative analyses). Carrying out microbiological analyzes on the main types of foods (fresh, packaged, fermented and low water content products), both through the use of traditional microbiology techniques and by resorting to the use of rapid and alternative methods, interpretation of the results and methods of drafting a test report. Environment analysis and monitoring methods
Development of risk analysis and development of a Self-Control Plan for the most common food production and handling processes. Principles of microbiological modeling and methods of setting up microbial challenge tests.
Preparation and maintenance of selected microbial cultures. From the test tube to the fermenter: preparation of pre-inoculation cultures and choice of process conditions; the concept of scaling-up. Design of a fermentation line. Preparation and methods of sterilization of a culture medium and a fermenter. Preparation and calibration of pH and dissolved oxygen probes. Foam control mode. Inoculation methods and analysis of the microbiological process, also through the use of software. Withdrawal management. Strategies for maintaining the concentration of dissolved oxygen in aerobic processes.