Food Chemistry

The course in Food Chemistry deals first of all with the chemical, dietary and toxicological aspects of the main categories of nutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals. The types of foods that are of particular interest for the Mediterranean diet (cereals and derivatives, milk and derivatives) and/or for the Italian economy (olive oil and wine) are therefore considered. The main characteristics and standards underlying the quality control of food are described, including the HACCP and the ISO standards.
The nutritional characteristics, the chemical composition, the technological treatments commonly used for conservation and the analyzes useful for ensuring safety (contaminants) or inclusion in particular quality categories (denominations of origin) are considered for each food. Lectures introduce the topics applied in the laboratory activity.
The laboratory training includes a practical part in which students apply traditional and advanced methods in food analysis. In particular, although with some variations, the acrtivities concern: the sensory analysis to let the student know the importance of the organoleptic characteristics in the choice of the consumer; quantitative analysis of macronutrients (mainly proteins and lipids); the evaluation of the food profile with identification of the protein components and the relative allergenic potential (electrophoretic and immunochemical techniques); analysis of gluten-free products (immunoenzymatic techniques); food quality control, including the classification of olive derivatives-olive oil (spectrophotometric techniques).

Students in the Food Chemistry course (lectures) must acquire the basic knowledge necessary to face a possible profession in the food area. Food and dietetic industry requires staff prepared for quality control and it is therefore important that SSCTA students are able to tackle these activities with the best scientific approach. The laboratory module intends to provide the practical skills necessary to start students on a possible profession in the food area.