Graduate Program in Food and Nutrition - the sowing of science
Food Science and Technology covers chemical, biochemical, technological, nutritional and functional knowledge of food; allowing access to knowledge by more diverse professionals
linked to the area of health, agricultural sciences and technological sciences. UNIRIO's Food and Nutrition Program (PPGAN) aims to produce and leverage scientific knowledge, through basic or applied research and the training of conscientious, responsible professionals with a multidisciplinary and integrative vision of Food Science and Technology, Health and the Environment.
PPGAN has an area of concentration: “Food and Nutrition” - and two lines of research: “Processing, quality, recovery of food, co-products and waste” and “Functional Foods”.
The first line of research seeks to meet the challenges of the agricultural and industrial sectors, considering the need to increase the production of safe and healthy food; the more efficient use of natural resources, the production of biomaterials and biodegradable packaging and the use of new raw materials, with the Bioeconomy as an aspect. This line has four research projects: (1) Biodegradable packaging and biomaterials, (2) Food metabolomics and proteomics, (3) Biotechnological processes, and (4) Food quality and safety, and aim to produce innovative results through the application of modern analytical techniques, such as “omics” tools, as well as the use of green chemistry and bioprocesses aimed at reducing food waste and promoting a safe, healthy and healthy diet. sustainable.
The line of “Functional Foods” it is associated with the characterization and development of food products, and the study of technological, biological and chemical and biochemical transformations. This line has 2 research projects: (1) Development of functional food products and (2) Bioactive compounds and supplements: bioactivity, metabolism and application in the prevention of morbidities and encompass studies related to the bioavailability, metabolism and bioactivity of nutrients and bioactive compounds through models in vivo and in vitro, to elucidate mechanisms of action and interaction of these compounds/nutrients in different physiological processes. The projects seek to optimize the use of nutrients and bioactive compounds in food, through extraction, fractionation and purification processes, and to develop new food products from regional and exotic fruits, unconventional food plants (PANCS) and co-products with functional potential.
PPGAN also presents an institutional innovation project - "Innovation in the production and consumption of food and biomaterials" due to the potential to generate innovative products and processes arising from theses and dissertations and for the mission of contributing to transform the knowledge generated in the academy into socioeconomic impact - and an extension project - “Bioeconomy: Sustainability, Food and Health”, justified by the social commitment of PPGAN as a space for reflection, criticism and construction of different societal processes and by the vocation demonstrated in recent years in the development of actions with an extensionist character.
