In the first module (Food quality and safety) students will acquire knowledge on the following: nutritional properties and food composition; food alterations; unit operations; technology of food processing and storage; preservation of nutritional properties and quality of food; management of risks affecting food safety. This approach will permit them to prevent and/or manage any risk that could affect food safety.
Aim of the second module (Entomology and crop protection) is to povide students with basic knowledge on the biological and physiological mechanisms regulating insect life and behaviour, with special regard to agro-food pests. Students will be training for the identification of noxious species and for studying their population dynamics and associated risks. The students will acquire the main techniques and strategies employed for pest management and will know the insecticidal active substances available, with special emphasis on last generation formulations used to protect agro-food products.
The third module (Epidemiology and agroterrorism) aims to introduce students to the relevance of plant pathology and the impact of plant diseases on the society, on human and animal health and on the environment. The course will include lectures and practical training. The students will acquire knowledge on the following: disease concept, damage threshold, symptoms, diagnostic techniques, infection mechanisms, plant defense and resistance mechanisms, influence of the environmental factors, epidemiology, and control of plant pathogens. Students will be aware of the risks related to the possibility of terrorist attacks against agricultural settings and its potential to disrupt a fundamental portion of any nation’s economic system.