Technology Transfer Department

Application sectors

Problem to solve

The quality, safety, and shelf life of fresh or processed products are strongly influenced by factors related to the intrinsic characteristics of the matrix, environmental conditions, and the various stages of production, processing, transformation, and packaging. It is therefore essential to always have analytical methods that are suitable, specific, sensitive (considering the complexity of biological matrices), rapid, flexible, and sustainable both environmentally and economically. These technologies must also enable the assessment and identification of emerging chemical and microbiological contaminants, ensuring that producers remain compliant with current regulations. The main beneficiaries of these services are micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, which often lack the financial resources to independently carry out such activities

Description

The service is designed to meet the needs for safety, quality, sustainability, and efficiency within agro-industrial supply chains, by proposing an integrated analytical approach that employs traditional microbiological techniques, advanced molecular methods (PCR, Real-time qPCR), enzymatic, colorimetric, and spectrophotometric techniques, as well as high-performance chromatographic methods (HPLC–DAD/LSD, GC-FID) for the microbiological, chemical-physical, nutritional, and sensory analysis and characterization of raw materials, intermediates, final products, and by-products of agro-industrial supply chains. Specific proposed applications include: the development of analytical protocols for monitoring the microbiological, chemical-physical, and nutritional safety and quality of fresh plant-based products (such as first- and fourth-range fruit and vegetable products); the isolation, identification, and characterization of spoilage and toxigenic molds in cereals and their derivatives, oilseeds, fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, and dairy products; the implementation of microbiological and chemical-physical stability studies (using Microbial Challenge Tests) for the evaluation of the shelf life of fresh or minimally processed foods; the development of biopreservation procedures based on the use of bioactive molecules (phenolic compounds or bioactive peptides) extracted from agro-industrial residues or by-products for the biocontrol of pathogenic or spoilage fungi responsible for food deterioration (a phenomenon known as food spoilage); the identification and characterization of filamentous fungi as a source of nutritionally valuable compounds for reuse in food formulations; and the qualitative and nutritional characterization of edible mushrooms grown on alternative and sustainable substrates (produced using agricultural or agro-industrial residues and by-products).

Research group involved