11634 - Food Technologies I

Learning outcomes

At the end of the class, the student knows in detail the production lines of finished foods belonging to specific supply chains, is able to adequately deal with the management of equipment and processes, quality control in company strategies and consumer protection; it is also able to use a correct technical language.

Course contents

The course unit consists of 6 ECTS credits, for a total of 60 hours of teaching, of which 2 ECTS credits (20 hours) are devoted to “Dairy, Milling and Pasta Industry” (Module 1 – lecturer: Prof. Maria Caboni), 2 ECTS credits (20 hours) to “Sustainability in Food Technologies and Olive Oil Technologies” (Module 2 – lecturer: Prof. Enrico Valli), and 2 ECTS credits (20 hours) to “Wine, Beer, Spirits and Vinegar Industry” (Module 3 – lecturer: Prof. Fabio Chinnici).

Module 1 – Dairy, Milling and Pasta Industry (lecturer: Prof. Caboni)

Dairy industry: milk composition in relation to technological processing. Lactose: solubility, sweetening power, crystallisation forms, main fermentations and alterations. Lipids: fatty acid composition and minor components; structure and characteristics of the fat globule. Fat alterations. Proteins: classification and functional characteristics of whey proteins and caseins. Coagulation of milk proteins: effect of heat, pH, and coagulating enzymes. Drinking milk: pasteurisation and sterilisation. The technological process, product management, and packaging. Quality characteristics of products. Special technological treatments: microfiltration, spray drying, concentration. Production and characteristics of cream: cream stabilisation. Butter: product definition. Batch and continuous processes; product characteristics and quality. Cheeses: product definition. Classification of cheeses on a compositional and technological basis. The rennet-coagulated cheesemaking process and characteristics of rennet. Cheesemaking stages. Influence of the raw material and technology on the cheesemaking process. The case of Parmigiano Reggiano: brand and territory. By-products of the dairy industry: management and opportunities.

Milling and pasta industry: characteristics of the raw material: wheat. The main production processes and compositional characteristics for a high-quality raw material. Pasta: history, market, legislation, and production technology. Dried pasta, fresh pasta, and special pasta products.

Module 2 – Sustainability in Food Technologies and Olive Oil Technologies (lecturer: Prof. Valli)

Food technologies and their relationship with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Water: strategies for reuse and reduction of consumption in food technologies.

Vegetable oils: raw materials, production technologies, and sustainability.

The olive-growing and olive-oil supply chain: conventional and innovative technologies; storage of extra virgin olive oil; valorisation of by-products from the olive-growing and olive-oil supply chain.

Module 3 – Wine, Beer, Spirits and Vinegar Industry (lecturer: Prof. Chinnici)

Wine industry: legislative framework and statistical data. Alcohol and health. Compositional characteristics of grapes relevant to winemaking. Use of SO₂ in winemaking. Alcoholic fermentation. Red, white, and carbonic maceration winemaking processes. Sparkling wine production techniques. Ageing and packaging of wines.

Brewing industry: size of the production sector. Characteristics of raw materials. The beer production process: from malting to the packaged product.

Spirits: principles of distillation theory. Production techniques for selected spirits of national interest.

Vinegars: chemistry of acetification and production technologies. PDO and PGI balsamic vinegars.

Readings/Bibliography

It is not necessary to purchase any specific textbooks. Updated teaching material is provided during lectures and is also available through the “Virtual Learning Environment” platform (https://virtuale.unibo.it [https://virtuale.unibo.it/] ).

Useful texts for consultation are available at the Campus library (only some chapters or sections of the texts, indicated in the lecture slides, are relevant):

• Mucchetti, G. e Neviani, E., “Tecnologia Casearia”. Zanichelli 2022
• Lombardo, L., Farolfi, C., Capri, E., “Olio sostenibile guida tecnica di sostenibilità per la filiera olivicolo-oleria italiana. Edagricole 2022
• Conte, L., Servili M., “OLEUM Qualità, tecnologia e sostenibilità degli oli da olive”. Edagricole 2022.
• Alais C., “Scienza del latte”, Tecniche Nuove (Milano), 2000
• Corradini C., “Chimica e tecnologia del latte” Tecniche Nuove (Milano), 1998
• Di Giovacchino L., “Tecnologie di lavorazione delle olive in frantoio” Tecniche Nuove (Milano) 2010.
• Capella P., Fedeli E., Bonaga G., Lercker G. “Manuale degli oli e grassi” Tecniche Nuove (Milano), 1997.
• Riberau-Gayon P. et al “Trattato di Enologia” VOL I e II Edagricole, 2017-2018.
• De Vita P. e Devita G. “La Distillazione Enologica” Hoepli editore (Milano), 2022.
• Cabras, A. Martelli, "Chimica degli alimenti”, Ed. Piccin (Padova), 2004.
• Capelli P., Vannucchi V., “Chimica degli Alimenti”, Ed. Zanichelli (Bologna), terza edizione, 2005.
• Sustainable Food Systems from Agriculture to Industry 1st Edition - Improving Production and Processing, Editor: Charis M. Galanakis, Academic Press, 2018.
• Sustainable Food Processing, Editor: Brijesh K. Tiwari, Tomas Norton, Nicholas M. Holden, Wiley Blackwell, 2014.

Teaching methods

70% of the teaching activities will consist of classroom lectures, while the remaining 30% will consist of individual and group practical exercises in the classroom, one educational visit, and seminars.

Assessment methods

The examination consists of a single written test on EoL, aimed at assessing the knowledge acquired by the student in the three modules of the course unit, with reference to the contents of the classroom lectures delivered by the course lecturers. Specifically, the assessment will consist of 10 multiple-choice questions (1 point for each correct answer) and 4 open-ended questions (5 points each), to be completed within 50 minutes.

The activity planned for the educational visit will be completed through the preparation, by students, of a report to be made available on the Virtuale platform, in accordance with the criteria defined by the accompanying lecturer(s) and focused on the food technologies presented in this course unit. This report will contribute to the final assessment with an additional score, in relation to the mark obtained in the written test, of up to 2 points.

Students who are unable to take part in the educational visit—or who take part but do not wish to prepare the related report—may prepare and upload to Virtuale a critical report on a scientific article of their choice, subject to prior discussion with one of the three lecturers regarding the suitability of the article selected. The article must be related to the food technologies covered in this course unit, and the report must be prepared according to a template available on Virtuale. This report will be assessed with a maximum score of 2 points.

Honours will be awarded with an overall assessment of at least 31, determined by the sum of the score obtained in the written examination and the score obtained through the submission of one of the two reports described above.

Further information on the examination is provided by the lecturers during class and is available in the slides relating to the first lecture on the Virtuale web platform (https://virtuale.unibo.it [https://virtuale.unibo.it/] ).

The student must demonstrate that they have acquired comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the topics covered in the programme, that they are able to apply the concepts learned appropriately, that they possess critical analysis skills, and that they can establish connections between concepts from a logical-deductive perspective. Correct use of language and the appropriateness of the technical terminology used will also be assessed.

In particular, the assessment of the answers provided and of the report on the educational visit or scientific article is based on knowledge of the topics covered in the programme (“remembering”) (contribution to the assessment: 30%), the ability to apply the concepts acquired (contribution to the assessment: 30%), critical analysis skills (contribution to the assessment: 20%), and the use of correct language and appropriate technical terminology (contribution to the assessment: 20%).

The mark for the examination of the entire integrated course in Food Technologies (12 ECTS credits) will be calculated as the weighted average of the marks obtained in the two course units Food Technologies I and Food Technologies II (6 ECTS credits + 6 ECTS credits).

Registration for the examination must be completed within the deadlines indicated on the AlmaEsami web platform.

Students who wish to take the examination on the topics and teaching contents of the 2025/2026 academic year or previous academic years must contact Professors Caboni, Chinnici, and Valli by email at least 15 days before the examination date.

Students with specific learning disorders (SLDs) or temporary or permanent disabilities are strongly advised to contact the responsible University office in good time (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it ). The office will propose any possible accommodations to the students concerned; these must in any case be submitted, at least 15 days in advance, for approval by the lecturer, who will assess their appropriateness also in relation to the learning objectives of the course unit.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in examinations: for the written examination, the use of AI is prohibited. Any use constitutes a violation of academic integrity. For the preparation of the report on the scientific article or educational visit, limited, declared, and non-substantial use of AI is permitted for support activities, such as summarising and rephrasing sentences. In this case, students must comply with the University policy on AI use (https://www.unibo.it/it/ateneo/statuto-norme-strategie-bilanci/intelligenza-artificiale/intelligenza-artificiale ). Substantial use of AI for the actual writing of the report is not permitted.

 

Teaching tools

Multimedia materials (slides, videos, etc.) are available on the virtuale.unibo.it web platform.

A blackboard, PC, and projector are used as teaching support tools, in addition to chat, microphones, speakers, and webcams for any seminars held online.

Office hours

See the website of Maria Caboni

See the website of Enrico Valli

See the website of Fabio Chinnici