Food and Natural Organic Compound Chemistry

 

Address:

Chemical Building, Parco Area delle Scienze 17/a

Food Project Building, Parco Area delle Scienze 49/a

Biosciences Building, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/a


Professors and researchers:  

Gianni Galaverna1, Food chemistry - gianni.galaverna@unipr.it

Stefano Sforza1, Organic chemistry - stefano.sforza@unipr.it

Chiara Dall’Asta1, Food chemistry - chiara.dallasta@unipr.it

Augusta Caligiani1, Food chemistry - augusta.caligiani@unipr.it

Pietro Cozzini1, General and inorganic chemistry - pietro.cozzini@unipr.it

Renato Bruni1, Pharmaceutical Biology - renato.bruni@unipr.it

Marilena Musci1, Analytical chemistry - marilena.musci@unipr.it

Tullia Tedeschi1, Organic chemistry - tullia.tedeschi@unipr.it

Enrico Rolli2, Pharmaceutical Biology - enrico.rolli@unipr.it

Martina Cirlini1, Food chemistry - martina.cirlini@unipr.it

Barbara Prandi1, Food chemistry - barbara.prandi@unipr.it

Luca Dellafiora1, Food chemistry - luca.dellaflora@unipr.it

Laura Righetti1, Pharmaceutical Biology  - laura.righetti@unipr.it

 

Young Researchers:

Dott.ssa Veronica Lolli

Dott.ssa Cecilia Loffi

Dott.ssa Giulia Leni

 

PhD:

 

Dott.ssa Anna Valentina Luparelli

Dott. Tito Damiani

Dott. Francesco Crudo

Dott. Andrea Fuso

Dott.ssa Francesca Accardo

Dott.ssa Sara Cutroneo

Dott.ssa Giulia Spaggiari

Dott.ssa Francesca Cavaliere


Scholarships:

Dott.ssa Francesca Bonzanini

Dott.ssa Alessandra Gasparini

Dott.ssa Martina di Massimo

 
Affiliation:  
1 Department of Food and Drug  

2 Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability

LOCATIONS:

FOOD AREA BUILDING:

CHEMICAL BUILDING:

BIOSCIENCES BUILDING:

 

Research Topics:

Characterization and functional properties of proteins, lipids, non-digestible carbohydrates and metabolites in food and other biomasses, through the use of advanced methods of chromatography, mass spectrometry and NMR

Allergenic properties of food proteins

Molecular aroma profiling of food and drink

Molecular markers of authenticity and quality in food

Extraction and valorization of organic compounds from residual agro-food biomasses and food waste

Insects as ingredients for food and feed

Mycotoxins, modified mycotoxins and natural plant toxins: presence, transformation and metabolic fate in humans

Identification of emerging risks in the food chain and exposure assessment

Experimental models of simulated gastrointestinal digestion of macro- and micronutrients

Chemical synthesis of proteins, peptides and peptide-like compounds

In silico methods for risk assessment related to chemical contaminants

BIG DATA for Food Safety

Biosynthesis and bioactivity of natural substances, plant extracts and food supplements

Chemical-varietal characterization of plants having food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical interest 

 

Publications:

1. Dellafiora L, Gonaus C, Streit B, et al. 2020.An In Silico Target Fishing Approach to Identify Novel Ochratoxin A Hydrolyzing Enzyme. Toxins (Basel). 12(4):258. DOI:10.3390/toxins12040258.

2. Leni, G., Tedeschi, T., Faccini, A., Pratesi, F., Folli, C., Puxeddu, I., Migliorini, P., Gianotten, N., Jacobs, J., Depraetere, S., Caligiani, A., Sforza, S. 2020. Shotgun proteomics, in-silico evaluation and immunoblotting assays for allergenicity assessment of lesser mealworm, black soldier fly and their protein hydrolysates. Scientific Reports, 10, 1228.

3. Cavaliere F., Lorenzetti S.,Cozzini P. 2020. Molecular modelling methods in food safety: Bisphenols as case study, Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 137, DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2020.111116

4. Prandi, B., Varani, M., Faccini, A., Lambertini, F. Suman, M. Leporati, A., Tedeschi, T., Sforza, S..2019. Species specific marker peptides for meat authenticity assessment: A multispecies quantitative approach applied to Bolognese sauce. Food Control, 97, 15-24. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2018.10.016

5. Prandi, B., Faccini, A. Lambertini, F. Bencivenni, M.,  Jorba, M. Van Droogenbroek, B. Bruggeman, G. Schöber, J. Petrusan, J. Elst, K. Sforza, S., 2019. Food wastes from agrifood industry as possible sources of proteins: a detailed molecular view on the composition of the nitrogen fraction, amino acid profile and racemisation degree of 39 food waste streams. Food Chemistry, 286, 567-575

6. Righetti, L., Körber, T., Rolli, E. et al. 2019. Plant biotransformation of T2 and HT2 toxin in cultured organs of Triticum durum Desf..Sci Rep 9, 14320. DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-50786-w

7. Cirlini M., Demuth T., Biancardi A., Rychlik M., Dall'Asta C., Bruni R. 2018.Are tropane alkaloids present in organic foods? Detection of scopolamine and atropine in organic buckwheat (Fagopyronesculentum L.) products by UHPLC–MS/MS, Food Chemistry, 239,141-147, DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.06.028.

8. Caligiani, A., Marseglia, A., Leni, G., Baldassarre, S., Maistrello, L., Dossena, A., Sforza, S. 2018. Composition of black soldier fly prepupae and systematic approaches for extraction and fractionation of proteins, lipids and chitin. Food Research International, 105, 812-820

9. Caligiani, A., Nocetti, M., Marseglia, A., Palla, G. Development of a Quantitative GC–MS Method for the Detection of Cyclopropane Fatty Acids in Cheese as New Molecular Markers for Parmigiano Reggiano Authentication. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2016, 64, 20, 4158–4164.

10. Dall'Erta, A., Cirlini, M., Dall'Asta, M., Del Rio, D., Galaverna, G., Dall'Asta, C. 2013. Masked mycotoxins are efficiently hydrolyzed by human colonic microbiota releasing their aglycones.ChemicalResearch in Toxicology, 26 (3), pp. 305-312. DOI: 10.1021/tx300438c

 

Collaborations:

Waters Co., Mass Spectrometry Headquarters, Wilmslow, UK (contact person: Dr. Sara Stead; Prof. Chiara Dall’Asta)

Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, CZ (contact person: Prof. Jana Hajslova; Prof.Chiara Dall’Asta)

LABERCA (Laboratory for the Study of Residues and Contaminants in Food); Joint Research Unit led by Oniris and INRAE (contact person: Dr. Gaud Dervilly; Dr. Laura Righetti)

Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig Universitaet Giessen (contact person: Prof. Bernhard Spengler; Dr. Laura Righetti)

Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, University of Vienna (contact person: Prof. Doris Marko; Dr. Luca Dellafiora)

EFSA, Steering Committee and Emerging Risk Unit, Parma (contact person: Dr. Jean Lou Dorne, Dr. Luca Dellafiora)

Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science, Cyprus University of Technology (contact person: Prof. PhotisPapademas, Prof. Tullia Tedeschi, Prof. Gianni Galaverna)

Open Fields s.r.l., Parma (contactperson Dr. Roberto Ranieri, Prof. Gianni Galaverna)

SSICA – Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Conserve Alimentari, Parma (contactperson Dr.ssa Roberta Virgili, Prof. Gianni Galaverna)

Wageningen University, Chair of Food Chemistry (Contact person Prof. Jean-Paul Vincken, Prof. Stefano Sforza)

DeutschesInstitutfürLebensmitteltechnike.V. (DIL), Quackenbruck (Contact person Dr. Janos Petrusan, Prof. Stefano Sforza).

Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries (ILVO), Merelbeke, Belgium (contact person Dr. Bart van Droogenbroek, Prof. Stefano Sforza)

Barcelona University, Departament de Nutrició, Ciències de l'Alimentació i Gastronomia, Campus de l'Alimentació de Torribera (Contact person Prof. F, Javier Luque, Prof. Pietro Cozzini)

Food Packaging Forum Foundation, Zurich (Contact person Dr. Jane Muncke, Prof. Pietro Cozzini)

Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dip.to di Sicurezza Alimentare, Nutrizione e Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria – (SANV) (Contact person, Dr. Stefano Lorenzetti, Prof. Pietro Cozzini)

Institute of Food Science and Research CIAL (CSIC-UAM), Madrid-Spain ( Contact person: Prof. Isidra Recio Sanchez, Prof. Tullia Tedeschi).

IRIS Technology Group, Spain (Contact person: Dr. Simona Neri, Prof. Tullia Tedeschi, Dr. Barbara Prandi).

 

ACTIVE PROJECTS:

PROLIFIC - Applicazione di processi a cascata per l’estrazione e la valorizzazione di proteine e molecole bioattive da sottoprodotti dell’industria agro-alimentare quali legumi, caffè e funghi (EU funding, H2020-BBI-JU, BBI-RIA-R4-2017; Prof. Tullia Tedeschi, Prof. Stefano Sforza, Dott.ssa Barbara Prandi)

CATERPILLAR - Canapa tessile per la produzIone di alimenti funzionali e di biomasse proteiche per l’alimentazione animale (Regione Emilia Romagna, PSR 2014-2020 – Misura 16.1.01 – Focus Area 2A; Prof. Gianni Galaverna)

MIME4HEALTH - Prodotti carnei e lattiero-caseari innovativi per la salute del consumatore - Innovative milk and meat products for consumer's health (Regione Emilia Romagna, POR-FESR 2014-2020; Prof. Gianni Galaverna)

FLIES4VALUE  - Insetti per la bioconversione di sottoprodotti agroalimentari in mangimi e sostanze ad alto valore aggiunto (Regione Emilia Romagna, POR-FESR 2014-2020; Prof. Augusta Caligiani)

 

Projects of industrial and private collaboration: 

Royal Friesland Campina N.V. (Paesi Bassi), Molecular composition of Infant Formulas, Responsabile: Stefano Sforza

Biomin Holding Group (Austria), Identify novel OTA hydrolyzing enzyme, Responsabile: Luca Dellafiora

Barilla S.p.A. (Italia): Studio sui miglioratori enzimatici in farine di frumento. Responsabile : Barbara Prandi.

Barilla S.p.A. (Italia), Identificazione di micotossine mascherate nei cereali e studio della stabilità lungo la filiera produttiva. Responsabile: Chiara Dall’Asta

Soremartec (Italia), Valutazione del rischio correlato a contaminanti da processo in nuovi ingredienti e materie prime. Responsabile. Chiara Dall’Asta

HiFood (Italia), studio della digeribilità di nuove fonti proteiche a base di legumi. Responsabile: Tullia Tedeschi.

Salumificio Aurora s.r.l., Analisi SWOT su prodotti e processi aziendali e miglioramento di alcuni parametri produttivi di prodotti carnei. Responsabile: Gianni Galaverna

Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano (Italia), Sviluppo e validazione di metodi per l’autenticità dei grattugiati. Responsabile. Prof. Augusta Caligiani

Consorzio dell’Aceto Balsamico di Modena (Italia), Determinazione del profilo in oligosaccaridi come marker di autenticità della materia prima. Responsabile: Prof. Augusta Caligiani.

 

PATENTS:

“Production of antimicrobials from vegetablewastes”, Autori: Camilla Lazzi, Valentina Bernini, Erasmo Neviani, Gianni Galaverna, Martina Cirlini, Annalisa Ricci, Antonietta Maoloni, Luca Calani e Silvia Zanetti  (record n. 102019000006815, 14 Maggio, 2019).