Course objectives

Graduates of the course:

- have an in-depth knowledge of the biological and technical processes that determine the production of foods of plant and animal origin;

- develop management and optimization skills of production processes also to identify sustainable and innovative technological solutions, in the light of European / international regulations or specific safety standards;

- know the environmental, chemical-physical, biological, microbiological and process factors that are involved in the phenomena of degradation, fermentation, physical, chemical and enzymatic transformation of raw materials and foods as well as their consequences on shelf life, nutritional and anti-nutritional properties, as well as rheological and sensory characteristics;

- are able to correlate the sensory data to the composition of the food and to the transformations deriving from cooking and / or processing methods;

- are able to identify conditioning, storage and packaging systems suitable for new commercial needs, guaranteeing where possible the enhancement of those peculiar characteristics that contribute to the typicality, also in terms of image, of the individual products;

- are able to:

  • a) evaluate the impact on the consumer, in terms of sensory and functional properties, nutritional quality, and safety, of food processing processes and different types of cooking;
  • b) consequently modulate the processes and formulations, should it be necessary to replace or reduce traditionally used ingredients (e.g. nitrites in processed meat products);
  • - know the economic processes related to the various food sectors, with reference to the dynamics of supply and demand and prices;
  • - are able to scientifically know and enhance the individual and interactive weight of the variables that contribute to the concept of 'territory' as regards the typical productions in order to be able to modulate and manage them optimally even in a territorial, social context, productive, technological and economic in continuous evolution;
  • - they include the roots of food culture in the literary and pictorial tradition as well as in the media in the present era;
  • - possess adequate skills and tools for communication (scientific dissemination, journalistic activity) in the gastronomic and food sector;
  • - know the Community policy for the quality of food production and consumer protection