Food Chemistry and Analysis

The teaching aims at delivering knowledge on the chemical composition of the main food matrices and on the methods of analysis to be applied for the control of the quality and genuineness of food according to the current legislation.
The course aims at providing students with knowledge on the chemical classification of the main constituents (macro- and micronutrients, non-nutrients and undesirable substances), and on the transformations that food components undergo during treatments. The chemical-physical properties, the chemical reactivity of the various components and the basic analytical techniques for their determination will be also investigated.

At the end of the course, students will know the chemical nature of the main food constituents, their reactivity/stability, and analytical methodologies.
Students will know the chemical composition of the main food matrices and they will be able to understand a label and to select analytical methods for the characterization of food products in terms of nutritional composition, quality, and fraud control.