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2022/2023

Introduction to Food Technology

Code: 101017 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500502 Microbiology OT 4 2

Contact

Name:
Victoria Ferragut Perez
Email:
victoria.ferragut@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

80% catalan;20% spanish

Teachers

Marta Capellas Puig
Montserrat Mor-Mur Francesch
Joan Josep Gallardo Chacon
Bibiana Juan Godoy
Jordi Saldo Periago

Prerequisites

There are no official prerequisites, but it is essential that the student review the knowledge of Physics, Chemistry, Microbiology and Biochemistry.

Objectives and Contextualisation

What we eat every day and how we do it depends on our health. And also our economy, since the agri-food sector is one of the most money that moves in our country. In Catalonia, there are many food industries which must ensure healthy and safeproducts.
The administration, on the other hand, must carry out official controls to ensure specific legislation.
In the first part (Unit 1), food science is studied, in which the student must acquire the basic, theoretical and practical knowledge about the characteristics, composition and alteration of foodstuffs for human consumption. In the second part (Units 2 and 3), food technology is studied, in which the knowledge of the technologies principles used to obtain safe and healthy foods is acquired.

Training objectives:
At the end of the course students will be able to:

  • Recognize the components and ingredients of foods, and their functions and properties
  • Recognize the additives and their main functions
  • Identify specific food quality indicators
  • Relate components, properties and quality indicators
  • Identify the food deterioration mechanisms
  • Evaluate the possibility and probability of deterioration of a food for a specific cause
  • Describe the main processes of transformation and / or conservation of foods, the consequences that they have on the food compounds and the raw materials and the parameters of control.
  • Identify the main characteristics of food industries derived from raw materials of animal and plant origin.

Competences

  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values. 
  • Apply knowledge of theory to practice
  • Apply microorganisms or their components to the development of products of interest in health, industry and technology.
  • Communicate orally and in writing.
  • Design and use disinfection and sterilisation treatments and also methods for assessing their effectiveness.
  • Identify and solve problems.
  • Obtain, select and manage information.
  • Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge. 
  • Use bibliography or internet tools, specific to microbiology or other related disciplines, both in English and in the first language.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values. 
  2. Apply knowledge of theory to practice
  3. Communicate orally and in writing.
  4. Identify and solve problems.
  5. Know and apply the different procedures for sterilising and reducing microbial load in industrial, clinical and experimental environments.
  6. Know the role of microorganisms in different production processes in order to improve these processes and ensure their success.
  7. Obtain, select and manage information.
  8. Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge. 
  9. Understand the required operations and processes for obtaining products in which microorganisms intervene.
  10. Use bibliography or internet tools, specific to microbiology or other related disciplines, both in English and in the first language.

Content

UNIT 1. Food properties and modifications

Theory:
 
Topic 1. The water of food. Structure and properties. State of water for food. Water activity Sorption isotherms (2 hr)

Topic 2.- Biotic modifications. Food as an ecosystem. Factors that affect the growth and survival of microorganisms in food. The theory of obstacles. (2 hr)
 
Topic 3. Food components and ingredients: General characteristics and functional properties of the main components of foods: carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. Additives. (3 h)

Topic 4.- Non-biotic modifications: chemical and enzymatic reactions. Non-enzymatic browning reactions. Lipolysis and auto-oxidation. Pigment degradation reactions. Enzymatic oxidation of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates. Reactions of enzymatic browning. (3 h)

Laboratory:
PL1- General knowledge of the pilot plant (1h); Enzymatic browning (laboratory, 2h)

PL2-Food Stability (2 h)

Seminar:
S1- Presentation and evaluation of the self-learning work (2 h)

UNIT 2. Fundamentals of food industries

Theory:


Topic 5. Processing in food technology. General concepts. Traceability in food production. (1 h).

Topic 6. Effects of low temperatures on food components and on microorganisms. Changes in cell structure by frozen. Conservation factors. (2 h)

Topic 7. Packaging in modified atmospheres. Gas mixtures used in function of food. Preservative effectiveness and changes observed in food components. (2 h)

Topic 8. Use of high temperatures in food preservation. Pasteurization and sterilization. Equipments and processes used at industry. Effects on the microorganisms: TDT curves, DT, z and F0 coefficients. (4 h)

Topic 9. Elimination of water. Drying of foods and evaporation of liquid foods. Use of tangential filtration systems. (2 h)

Seminars:
S2- Bio-preservation(2h)
S3- Heat treatments:TDT curves (2h), self-learning activity of the associated unit 2

UNIT 3. Fundamentals of foods of animal and vegetable origin

Theory:
Topic 10.- Dairy Technology . Composition and structure of milk. Microbiology of milk. Preservation treatments. Concentrated milk and milk powder. Cream and butter. Coagulation Other products. (3 h)

Topic 11.- Technology of meat and derivatives. Normal and abnormal post-mortemal metabolism in meat channels. Microbiology. Cooling and freezing. Systems of classification and prediction of quality. (2 h)

Topic 12.- Technology of fishery products. Composition and post-mortem changes. Conservation methods. Refrigeration and Freezing. Preserves and Semiconserves. (4 h)

Seminars:
S4- Description of meat derivatives (2 h)
S5- Fermented cereals and legumes (2 h)

Laboratory:
PL3- Elaboration of dairy products (2 hours), self-learning activity of Associated Unit 3

Methodology

The methodology used in this course combines the following activities:

• Lectures where the student acquires the basic concepts of the subject.
• Work seminar to complete and deepen the concepts exposed in the master classes, analyzing information and solving questions.
• Seminars on the presentation and evaluation of the work of self-learning.
• Laboratory practices: complete and reinforce the knowledge acquired in the lectures. They allow the acquisition of work skills in the laboratory and the experimental understanding of concepts. At the beginning of the course, the student will have a guide available with all the practices to be performed at laboratory. The student must make a comprehensive reading of the guide. Each practice will include: objective / s, foundation, methodology and a section for the results that are obtained, as well as a file to prepare the report of each session. The student will have to prepare the report during the practice.
In the first session, the student must submit the proof of passing the Basic Safety test signed with the commitment of knowledge and compliance with the work and safety regulations in the practice laboratory.
The practical sessions are of compulsory. The absence of a session can be justified.
• Self-learning work of the student:
- Individual, for the presentation and preparation of cases, and for the study and preparation of the exam.
- In group of 4 people, for the preparation and presentation of cases. In some cases, the work involves the search and selection of information in various sources and the answer to the questions raised in the case, and its presentation and discussion in front of the professors and other class groups. In others, students must respond to the Virtual Campus.
The teaching material used in the course will be available on the Virtual Campus. The student will find, before each session, the presentations in pdf format that teachers will use in class, to use it as a support when taking notes. They will also include the necessary scripts for the practices, which the student will have to print on the first day of the course.
In the Virtual Campus will also be left self-assessment material of the units of the subject, which the student can use to reinforce their knowledge.

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Laboratory practices 8 0.32 2, 9, 6, 4
Lectures 32 1.28 9, 6, 5
Seminars 10 0.4 2, 9, 6, 5, 4, 3
Type: Autonomous      
Autonomous study and bibliografic consultation 60 2.4 2, 9, 6, 5, 4, 7
Case resolution and presentation, autoevaluation exercises 36 1.44 2, 9, 6, 5, 4, 7, 3

Assessment

Maximum score that can be obtained is 100 points. The course will be passed with a minimum overall score of 50. The assessment will be individual and will be carried out continuously during the different training activities that have been programmed.

The final grade of the subject will be as follow:

Unit 1. Exam: 65%; Self-study: 35%
33% of the final grade of the subject. Minimum for average in the global mark: 4/10
Unit 2. Exam: 65%; Self-study: 35%.
34% of the final grade of the subject. Minimum for average in the global mark: 4/10
Unit 3. Exam: 65%; Self-study: 35%
33% of the final grade of the subject. Minimum to average: 4/10


Students will have to do an individual self-study job (in unit 2) or in groups of 4 people (units 1 and 3). The work of unit 1 will be presented in public presentation, together with the rest of the groups, in a session scheduled in class hours. The works of units 2 and 3 will be sent to the professors via Virtual Campus. The minimum score to average on the unit's mark is 5/10.

When finalizing the formative activities of each unit and the date specified in the general programming, the student will perform a written exam (test type with answers of multiple choice combined with questions of development in some of the units) on the knowledge acquired during the classes, the practices and the self-learning. The minimum score to average on the unit's mark is 4/10

• The student who has not completed the practices cannot attend the examinations. The content of practices may be evaluated in the exams.
• To be eligible for the retake process, the student should have been previously evaluated in a set of activities equaling at least two thirds of the final score of the course or module. Thus, the student will be graded as "Not Evaluable" if the weighting of all conducted evaluation activities is less than 67% of the final score

 

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Presentation and discussion of self-learning work 35% 1 0.04 1, 8, 2, 9, 6, 5, 4, 7, 3, 10
Written exams 65% 3 0.12 2, 9, 6, 5, 4, 3

Bibliography

General: Electronic books at the library

http://www.knovel.com/web/portal/browse/subject/60/filter/0/

Podeu fer una cerca per paraules clau en aquesta web. Alguns que us poden ser útils (però n'hi ha molts d'altres):

Chemical Deterioration and Physical Instability of Food and Beverages

Chilled Foods

Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology

Essentials of Food Sanitation

Food Additives Data Book

Food Spoilage Microorganisms

Oxidation in Foods and Beverages and Antioxidant Applications, Volume 1 - Understanding Mechanisms of Oxidation and Antioxidant Activity

Oxidation in Foods and Beverages and Antioxidant Applications, Volume 2 – Management in different Industry Sectors

Principles of Food Chemistry

Stability and Shelf-Life of Food

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/books/sub/foodsci

http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-350235.html

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/ebooks#!key=subject&value=food 

Software

No especific software is required