754310 Food authenticity practical course

Type
Exercise course
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Loh, Tanja , Mayer, Helmut
Organisation
Offered in
Wintersemester 2024/25
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

Small groups of students will perform chemical, biochemical and molecular biological methods to assess the authenticity of foods in a laboratory course. Depending on the food sample analysed, the appropriate analytical techniques of adulteration control (e.g., chemistry, enzymatic tests, alkaline urea-PAGE, native-PAGE, SDS-PAGE, IEF, HPLC, ELISA, PCR, RAPD-PCR, PFGE) are to be applied to topics of interest, e.g.:
- addition of water, defatting in dairy products
- genetic polymorphisms of milk proteins (identity; A2 milk)
- identity, degree of maturation, ripening age of AOC (PDO)-cheeses
- species identification of dairy and meat products
- differentiation of rennets
- identity of probiotic micro-organisms
- protein analysis in foods
- detection of the absence of genetic modification in foods
- assessment of heat treatment of foods
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Previous knowledge expected

Basic knowledge in food chemistry and molecular biology laboratory (e.g., accurate pipetting with micropipettes and graduated pipettes; handling of analytical balances; principles of "inoculation without contamination" ) as well as understanding of the fundamental aspects of "laboratory safety" (e.g., safe handling of chemicals, cleanliness and order, to avoid endangering persons in the chemical and molecular biology laboratory) !!!
==> If these prerequisites are not fulfilled, a safe and efficient work in this Practical Course is definitely NOT possible !!!
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Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

After having successfully completed this practical course, students will be familiar with the fundamentals of food authenticity and traceability, and are able to apply this knowledge in practice. They will learn to deal with selected aspects of food authenticity in a practical course. In particular, they are able to perform modern analytical techniques (e.g., electrophoresis and PCR) to control the authenticity of foods (e.g., species identification at protein and DNA level). Students will have basic knowledge and competence in the area of food authentication, and will be able to use these skills in adulteration control of foods.
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You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.