The aim of the course is to give to the students knowledge about chemical structures and properties of food components. In addition, information will be provided on legislation related to common foods, health foods, functional foods, food supplements and nutraceuticals.

Foods and nutrients. Foods that provide energy and foods that do not provide energy. Energy balance

Lipids: classification and properties; fatty acids, essential fatty acids, trans-fatty acids; triglycerides, glycerophospholipids, waxes, sterols; nutritional properties of lipids; chemical reactions of lipids in foods, isomerisation, hydrolysis, oxidation.

Classification of carbohydrates: monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides. Stereochemistry, nomenclature, reactivity of monosaccharides. Main monosaccharides present in food: D (+) - glucose, D (-) - fructose, D (+) - galactose, L (-) - sorbose. Oligosaccharides: maltose, cellobiose, sucrose, lactose, trehalose. Polysaccharides, starch, dietary fiber, cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectins, gums, glycogen, pectins. Nutritional aspects of carbohydrates; reactions of carbohydrates in acidic/basic environment and during heat treatments.

Proteins: amino acids, peptides, protein structure and classification; essential amino acids and nutritional quality of proteins; foods rich in protein; protein modification during food processing; Maillard reactions. Amino acids supplements

Food supplements: definition, composition, legislation, labeling, purpose and guidelines. Protein, lipid and charbohydrates supplemnts; vitamin and mineral supplements.
Foods for special medical purposes: definition, composition, labeling, legislation and some examples. Demarcation guidelines between food supplements and foods for special medical purposes. Infants formula, baby foods

Functional foods, novel foods: definition and examples

Probiotics, prebiotics and symbiotics: characteritics and examples

Nutraceuticals: definition and examples of nutraceutical products in pharmacies

Vitamins: classification, chemical structure, function and deficiency

Mineral and mineral supplements: function, intakr and deficiency of macro- and microelements.

Antioxidants: definition, classification, mechanisms and examples in plant foods (vitamins E, C, A, carotenoids, phenolic derivatives, thiols and glutathione).

1. Knowledge and understanding: Knowledge of molecular composition of food components and their nutritional properties. Acquisition of notions related to the specific composition of dietary products and dietary supplements. Knowledge of the laws and terminology of the discipline
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: Ability to correctly use chemical terminology and structural formulas and to recognize  a molecule or a class of molecules by their structure. Ability to recognize the nutritional / physiological properties and the end use of a dietary supplement or nucetrautical, critically posing the problem of scientific support in favor of health and nutritional claims.
3. Communication skills: Ability to expose the results of the studies to the public and in particular the issues of composition, nutritional value of foods, peculiarities and the use of a dietary product and a dietary supplement
4. Making judgments: Ability to make an assessment of the nutritional value of a food or a process of transformation. Evaluation of the suitability of a nutraceutical / food supplement for use by a specific individual.
5. Learning Skills: Ability to synthesize and link the different topics discussed with the related disciplines

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Frontal lessons

Course books

C.M. Galanakis. Nutraceutical an Functional food components. Academic Press (2017)

Assessment

The aim of the exam is to verify at which level the learning objectives previously described have been acquired. The exam consists in an oral comunication to verify the knolewledge's level of the course and the learning of specific vocabulary. In particular will be evaluate the ability of the student to recognize the chemical classes of food components, writing their chemical structures, knowledge and prediction of the reactivity and physical properties of the molecules of interest.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.