Research activities of

Dipartimento di Scienze degli

Alimenti
University of Teramo - ITALY

Presention given by
prof. Paola Pittia
Food Technology Research Unit
 University of Teramo

5 Faculties
• Faculty of Agricoltural Science
(Food Science and Oenology)
(1998)
•Faculty of Veterinary (1986)

•Faculty of Communication
Strategies
•Faculty of Social Science
•Faculty of Law Studies
 Dipartimento di Scienze degli
Alimenti (2002)
Mosciano Sant’Angelo (TE)
Head: prof.ssa Giovanna Suzzi

8 sections
40 permanent positions (assistant
professors and professors)+ ca. 20
grants+PhD students
 Agricultural Faculty
&
Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti
University of Teramo
Mosciano S.Angelo
 Breedi Agricultural
ng practices
RAW materials,
ingredients
F
O FOOD PROCESSING
AND PRESERVATION
O
D Packaging and storage
Food Industry, SME

C Storage/distribution
Market (Iper-,
Super, Shop…
H / logistics

A Home kitchen,
I Preparation restaurant, bar,
canteen
N
CONSUMPTION
 Breedi
ng
Agricultural
practices
F
RAW materials, O
ingredients
F O
O FOOD PROCESSING D
AND PRESERVATION
O T
D Packaging and storage
E
C
H
C Storage/distribution N
H / logistics O
A L
I Preparation O
G
N
Y
CONSUMPTION
 Breedi Agricultural

F
ng practices
RAW materials,
ingredients
F O
O FOOD PROCESSING O
O
AND PRESERVATION
D
D Packaging and storage Q
U
C Storage/distribution
A
H / logistics L
A I
I Preparation T
N Y
CONSUMPTION
 Breedi Agricultural

F
ng practices
RAW materials,
ingredients
F O
O FOOD PROCESSING O
O
AND PRESERVATION
D
D Packaging and storage S
A
C Storage/distribution
F
H / logistics E
A T
I Preparation Y
N
CONSUMPTION
 NUTRITIONAL
RAW SAFETY
MATERIALS
ASPECTS

FUNCTIONALITY
ENVIRONMENTAL FOOD QUALITY

PSICO- SENSORIAL
ANTHROPOLOGIC
HYSTORIC
MARKETING
CONVENIENCE LEGAL
 Main areas of Food chain = sections

• Agronomy and crop sciences

• Animal Production, Feed and Nutrition

• Food Technology
• Food microbiology and Safety
• Chemical Methodologies and Food Analysis

• Veterinary pharmacology and toxicology

• Agro-food economics
• Energy and environment
 Food Technology Research Unit
• Prof. Dino Mastrocola (leader)

• Paola Pittia (Prof., Senior scientist)

• Giuseppe Arfelli (Prof., Senior scientist)
• Giampiero Sacchetti (Dr Ph.D , Senior scientist)
• Maria Martuscelli (Dr Ph.D , Junior scientist)
• Dr Andrea Piva (Dr, Junior scientist)

• Carla Di Mattia (PhD student)

• Lilia Neri (PhD student)
• Gloria Dimitri (PhD student)
• Elisabetta Occhino (Master Degree, Grant)
 Toxic compounds estraction
distruction

EDIBILITY’

FOOD Raw matters,

ingredients
TECHNOLOGY

PROCESSING
PRESERVATION

Sanitisation FORMULATION
Inhibition
spoilage,
alteration Food product
Food
stabiliy
 Food Technology
Any process strategy carried out on raw materials
(meat, vegetable, …) with different aims
Food Technologies

PRIORITY
AIMS

Safety
Nutrition
Sensorial acceptability
 Food Technology Research Unit : reseach subjects
Food Processing:
• Optimisation of thermal treatments to
improve food quality (blanching,
cooking)
• Innovative packaging technologies
• Meat processing
• Wine processing

Food Formulation:
• Flavour release and perception

Food Quality:
• Technological functionality of food ingredients
• Antioxidant properties of bioactive food compounds
• Sensorial properties
• Wine
 (1) Food Technology Research Unit : food formulation

Food matrices: structural properties and impact on flavour

release and perception

European project: COST action 921

Partners: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norvegia, Poland, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K.
 Flavour and aroma compounds in foods

They influence:
influence
– Sensorial olfactive perception (for aromas volatile at
ambient temperature)
– Sensorial retro-nasal perception during and after
mastication (for aromas volatile at 37°C- body
temperature)

Food
acceptability

Food Technology Resaerch Unit

Which are the factors affecting
flavour perception?

Food Technology Resaerch Unit

Factors affecting flavour release and perception:

• Aroma compound properties

• Food properties (composition, moisture, water
activity, structure)
• Specific interactions at molecolar level between
aroma compound and food matrix

AROMA

Food Technology Resaerch Unit

 Ongoing researches on flavour

• Flavour partition of aroma compound as a function of

food process conditions and composition

• Development and optimisation of sensors (Electronic

Nose) for flavour evaluation of foods

• Sensory analysis of foods, differently processed, stored,

traditional (olive oil, wine, vegetables), innovative…

Food Technology Resaerch Unit

 Case study:
effect of aw on liquid-vapour partition of ethanol in
bread

P parz. etanolo (kPa) 2,5

1,5

0,5
2%
0
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1
aw

Ethanol-water Solvent effect of free

competition for binding water
sites in the bread matrix

(Pittia et al., 2004) Food Technology Resaerch Unit

 Case study:
effect of ethanol and gluten concentration on ethanol
vapour partition in model dough made with rice flower

P-EtOH = 3.670*EtOH**2 + 0.123*Glu**2 + 11.014*EtOH - 1.243*Glu

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

(Pittia et al., 2005) Food Technology Resaerch Unit

Case study: PCA of strawberry flavoured custard
dessert creams made with full fat-skimmed milk,
sucrose-glucose) by electronic nose

Food Technology Resaerch Unit

 (2) Food Technology Research Unit : food quality

Antioxidant properties of bioactive food compounds

Food Technology Resaerch Unit

 Why antioxidants?
• Oxidation reactions in foods
– Enzymatic origin (fruit, vegetables)

– Chemical reactions (oxigen, light, .. Induced)

• lipid oxidation, rancidity,
• pigmen degradation, ….

Inacceptable food
 What are antioxidants?

• Molecules that hinder the evolution of oxidation

reaction by:
– Reaction with oxigen (oxigen scavangers)

– Stopping the chemical reaction (chain breakers)

– Modification of the environmental conditions

(acidification, chelators, ….)
 Bioactive molecules

Compounds:
-Naturally present in foods or raw
materials (ascorbic acid, vitamins,
poliphenols, …)
 Bioactive molecules?

Compounds:
-Naturally present in foods or raw materials
(ascorbic acid, viatmins, poliphenols, …)

-Induced by processing (i.e. heat

treatments): Maillard reaction
products, …
Functional properties of bioactive compounds:
antioxidant properties

• As a function of :
– Raw materials
– Formulation (mixing two- or more ingredients)
– Processing
– Storage conditions
Why to study antioxidant properties of foods?

Nutritional Technological
importance interest

Health aspects of Self-life, Stability,

foods Sensorial quality
Ongoing researches on antioxidant properties

• Model systems
– Simple solutions containing single or mixtures of
bioactive compounds (poliphenols, proteins, …)
– Dispersed systems (emulsions)

• Foods
– Meat, fresh and processed (chicken, pork)
– caffè
– Vegetables (apples, chestnuts)
– Wine and derivatives (vino cotto, aceto balsamico).

EFFECT OF PROCESSING
 Case study: vino cotto (“cooked wine”)

Traditional, regional wine made from cooked must and

aged in wood barrels for at least 1-2 years
• Effect of initial composition
• Effect of processing
• effect of ageing

Vino
cotto
Results: antioxidant properties of vino cotto

Effect of processing
- Maillard reaction

DPPH and ABTS are two

different methods to
evaluate AOA

Both melanoidins and

Ligtness (L*) are indices of
the heat treatment intensity
Results: antioxidant properties of vino cotto

Effect of composition and ageing

 Case study: coffee roasting

Green coffee beans undergone to raosting prior to brew

extraction to induce chemical, physical and sensorial
changes

What about antioxidant

and healty properties?
Results: coffee roasting and antioxidant properties

300,00

180 °C
290,00
AAO (µmoli Trolox eq./mL)

190 °C
170°C
280,00

270,00

260,00
CAFFÉ VERDE
250,00

240,00
CAFFÉ NERO

230,00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Luminosità (L*)

Ï Roasting level
(3) Food Technology Research Unit : food processing

Meat processing
Innovation in salting: use of vacuum
impregnation in meat processing
Progetto del Ministero delle Attività Produttive-FIT.

Collaboration with Microbiology Research Unit

and private meat industry

Objective: to develop a process able to reduce the use of

nitrate and nitrite

ƒQuick inhibition of Enterobacteriaceae

ƒControl of lactic bacteria and Micrococcaceae

Other Research Units
 Animal production, feed and nutrition: main
research areas
‰ The evaluation of animal feed and particularly of nutritional and
technological methods to upgrade these products;

‰ Fatty acids in milk and fresh meat (CLA)

‰ Improve animal welfare and health;

‰ Modify breeding techniques and feeding systems or feed quality to

improve productivity and food quality;

‰ Mycotoxins: contamination risk in different feeds and foods and nitrite

and nitrate contamination in forages;

‰ Pollution decrease in farms.

U.R. Leader: prof. Lamberto Lambertini:

llambertini@unite.it
 Energy and environment Research Unit: main
research activities

- Biomass transformation in an hydrogen rich gas by cathalitic

process in flow bed”

Food Engineering
Laboratory

U.R. Leader: prof. Sergio Rapagnà: srapagna@unite.it

 Agronomy and crop production Research Unit: main
research activities

-Crop Production and sustainable agriculture

- Soil erosion and land degradation in wineyards and oliv

plants of the Mediterranian area”

Soil erosion of a wineyard after an

exceptional raining event : 170 mm/
24h (Sept 2004)

U.R. Leader: prof. Michele Pisante: mpisante@unite.it

 Chemical methodologies and Food analysis Research
Unit: main research activities

¾Food analysis: optimisation of methodologies and development of in-line

and at-line analysis systems

¾Rapid biosensors for food contaminants (pesticides, toxines, mycotoxins

U.R. Leader: prof. Dario Compagnone: dcompagnone @unite.it

 Agro-economy Research Unit: main research
activities

Economy and marketing in food and agricoltural field:

• innovative technology and novel food
• traditional and typical products (wine, chestnuts)

U.R. Leader: prof. Andrea Fantini: afantini@unite.it