This curriculum has an international agreement with the Catholic University of Portugal

FSE Research Themes (RT)

1. Agricultural Microbiology (RT1)

The research theme deals with all of the aspects related to the role of microorganisms in food quality and in fermentations. This includes the taxonomy, ecology, physiology and genetics of yeasts and bacteria involved in fermentation, safety, and spoilage of foods and feeds; the biotechnology of food and industrial fermentations, including the production of starter cultures and the optimisation of their use in foods; molecular food microbial ecology; bioinformatic and statistical applications in microbiology.

2. Sensory Analyses (RT2)

The research topics focus on the assessment of the sensory profile of a number of different food products. This research area is involved in studies concerning the characterisation and differentiation of local and typical products including organic foods. Additionally, consumer liking as affected by the sensory properties of the products and the information concerning the nutritional characteristics of foods are also investigated.

3. Food Engineering (RT3)

The research activities deal with the lay-out and design of food-industry and processing plants (pilot and industrial), food processing optimization and effectiveness, quality control and assurance in food processing, energy saving and process analysis. The research theme also includes design and setup of on-line control systems for the storage, cooling and freezing of agricultural foodstuffs and the use of spectra multilinear statistical analysis to optimize and control the agro-food processes.

4. Food Technology (RT4)

The main topics of the macro-area include the development and optimization of food processes, food product design, sub- and supercritical fluid technology applied to the food industry, food packaging, food preservation, food safety, development of green technologies for the food industry. The activitirs also include the optimisation of various food productive processes, the evaluation of the composition of different ingredients, raw materials and food products, the analytical methods for productive process monitoring and the determination of nutraceutical compounds,

5. Marketing of food products (RT5)

The main focus of this research area is the marketing of foods, including production, retailing, supply, promotion, demand and price. Additional topics cover the study of consumer preferences and their willingness to pay for food products as affected by expectations and labelling.