Biochemistry and Biochemical Analysis of Food

The course aims to provide the basis of structure, properties and functions of the main biological macromolecules, and the basic knowledge on the main metabolic pathways that occur in the body. Moreover, the course will provide the methodological principles of biochemical approaches used to characterize and analyze food: enzymatic methods, immunochemical methods, separation techniques and molecular biology techniques.

The student will be able to understand the functioning of the main biological processes and the biochemical transformations that main nutrients undergo in metabolism, also depending on the state of nutrition. The student will acquire the knowledge to critically understand the application of biological systems in vitro and/or in biotechnological processes. The student will be able to critically evaluate, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, the results obtained by the main biochemical methodologies suitable for the characterization of food.