Microbial biotechnology for food quality and safety (2 CFU).
The microbiota of foods. Probiotics. Microbial biofilms and their management. The microbial starter, characterization, production and management of the starter in fermentations. Management of mixed starters. Natural antimicrobials.
Predictive microbiology (2 CFU).
Definition of predictive microbiology. Microbial growth in food systems. Basic concepts of predictive microbiology. Primary, secondary, tertiary models. Structured and unstructured models. Primary models. Growth modeling (Gompertz equation, Baranyi model). Survival models (linear, biphasic curves, Weibull model). Secondary models. Ratkowsky model. Software and tools for predictive microbiology.
Laboratory Exercises (2 CFU).Analysis of the microbiota of food matrices with culture dependent and independent methods and bioinformatic analyses of the results. Analysis of microbial biofilms and their adhesive capacity. Natural antimicrobials: determination of MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) and NIC (Non-Inhibitory Concentration). Application of predictive mathematical models (growth, inactivation, etc). Case studies, and use of the main software available. Examples applied to products and processes.