Ferruccio Poli

Current academic position
A. A. 2000-01 present: Full Professor at the Department of Pharmacy and Biotecnology, University of Bologna.

Academic career

2014 – present : member of the Governing Board of Italian Botany Society ( SBI ), located in Florence

2012 – 2013 : member of the National Scientific Enabling Commission of MIUR, sector 05/A1 BOTANICA.

A.A. 2009-10 - present: at first President, then Coordinator of Pharmaceutical Applied Sciences course, within the Herbal Technics curriculum and Environmental Toxicology curriculum, School of Pharmacy.

2008 – present : National President of CONPTER (Comitato Nazionale dei Presidenti dei corsi di laurea in Tecniche Erboristiche).

2005 – 2014: Team Coordinator for medicinal Plants of Italian Botany Society ( SBI )

A. 1997-1998: to A. A. 1999-2000 Associate Professor at University of Bologna.

A. 1992-1993 to A. A. 1996-97: Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Botany at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Cagliari.

A. A. 1983-84 to A. A. 1991-92: associate researcher at University of Ferrara.

1979 Graduated with honor in Biological Science at University of Ferrara.


Scientific coordination

2015-present: scientific advisor of several conventions with the firm New Foods Industry s.r.l. (now Roha s.r.l.) for the quality control of oregano..

2013 scientific advisor for the Project of industrial research, pre-competitive development, technology transfer, as part of the SPINNER 2013 in Emilia-Romagna, project BIOPLANT-2012 research in the field of plant extracts such as bio-stimulants for agriculture

2012 to 2015 coordinator of the University of Bologna Project: Line 1 intervention - Feasibility studies FARB "PLANTS TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AS A SOURCE OF MOLECULES TO WORK 'ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIVIRAL"

2010 – present: scientific advisor of a certain annual convention with the firm Biolchim s.r.l.. (CIFO s.r.l.) for a research project named: “Plants and plant cell cultures as a source of plant compounds with biological activity”

2010- 2011 in charge of the work packages "Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants of the folk tradition of Emilia Romagna and plants of the traditional medicine Ayurveda, under the project" Identification and study of plant food and medicine for Traditional welfare and human health (grant from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Imola, BO).

2007 chief scientist for a research agreement with the company IRB (Biotechnology Research Institute) Ltd. Noventa Vicentina (VI), on the production of active ingredients from in vitro cultures.

2009 – present: scientific director of the Research Centre of MARIA GRAZIA CUCCOLI for the study on medicinal plants in the Bologna area, sponsored by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna, including two scholarships for 15 years in favor of graduates in medicinal plants studies and their biotechnological applications.

2005-2006 Part of the research team of the PRIN 2003 named "The physiology of jasmonates and polyamines during the development of the peach fruit: differential role and effects on the accumulation of metallothioneins in seed and pericarp".

2003-2005 Co-project leader "Alternative uses of hemp" with the company Hemp Italy Spa and Ferrara Research Consortium.

2000 scientific advisor of the biennial convention of the Ferrara Research Consortium and Veneto Agriculture under the Community Leader II - GAL No. 10-11, "Patavino", named: "The production, with supercritical technologies, of natural extracts and food products through innovative processing of agricultural products for residues typical food sub Target Area 1 ".

1999 project manager Ex 60% University of Bologna named "Study of secondary metabolism in cells and tissues in vitro plants."

Participation in multi-year research projects at Bologna University: Biodiversity levels of scale and interactions (1999), Structure of biodiversity monitoring and management (2002 and 2004).

Since 2003: scientific director of several agreements with the company Bonomelli s.rl. on quality control of samples of chamomile

Since 2001: Scientific director of several annual conventions with the firm Cannamela (group Bonomelli s.r.l.) on quality control of spices and flavors.

1999 scientific advisor of the biennial convention of the Ferrara Research Consortium and Veneto Agriculture under the Community Leader II - GAL Po Delta, named "Development and transfer of technologies for the production of supercritical extracts natural high degree of purity. "

1999 - 2001 scientific advisor for a team from University of Ferrara , working on a two-years project of INEA (National Institute of Agricultural Economics) entitled "Characterization of biodiversity of plants of pharmaceutical interest of Calabria and Sardinia ".

1998 scientific director of the research project of the National Research Council (Committee Chemistry 06) for the University of Cagliari, entitled: "Chemical characterization of phytoconstituents plants flora of Sardinia".

1998 scientific advisor of the biennial convention of the Ferrara Research Consortium and the Organization of Agricultural Development of the Veneto (ESAV), named "Determination of the bitterness of the radicchio di Chioggia".

1998 scientific advisor of the annual convention of the Ferrara Research Consortium and the Company Mazzoni (Tresigallo, Fe), named: "Extraction and biological activity of some active ingredients from aromatic plants ".

Scientific activity

The scientific activity is shown by more than 150 papers on international Journals. Bibliometric parameters according to SCOPUS 2020: documents: 140; total citations: 2467; h-index: 28.

Research lines

1. Study of plant secondary metabolites and their biological activities

In addition to the canonical methods used in phytochemistry, involving bio-guided assay fractionation, these studies are also addressed through 'omics' approach, which is based on metadata treatment through the development of appropriate multivariate analysis models. In this way, phytochemical-metabolomic data, related to a large number of samples, are correlated to their respective biological activities. This inductive approach allows to extract a wide range of information in short time and with a limited number of preparatory steps, resulting in low consumption of materials and solvents. This studies, although starting from the analysis of metabolites in a mixture (metabolomics), do not exclude their isolation both to confirm the hypotheses provided by multivariate analysis and for the structural elucidation of the metabolites of interest.

2. Quality control of spices, herbs and botanicals.

This line of research deals with the development of protocols for quality control of different natural products. The analyses developed are based both on microscopy and NMR-metabolomic analysis, which allows to develop chemometric models, able to predict the quality of herbal products on the basis of their phytochemical profile.

3. Plant-environment interactions studies

The study of plant secondary metabolites is also important for another research line dealing with the biological significance of these compounds, and their variation in plants in relation to biotic and abiotic factors. This study is mainly addressed with a metabolomic approach, correlating plants phytochemical-metabolomic profiles to the variation of different monitored factors, finding application in the field of smart agriculture and chemical ecology.

4. Valorization of wastes and by-products derived from plants industrial processing.

This line of research is related to the implementation of circular economy strategies of in view of a more sustainable development. Wastes and by-products from different industrial sectors, such as agro-food, perfumery and herbal industry, are analyzed both from the point of view of phytochemical and biological activities, in order to investigate their potential use in different areas (e.g. cosmetic, veterinary, agronomic, etc .) and their consequent valorization.

5. Ethnopharmacobotanical research on plants used in traditional medicine and enhancement of local biodiversity.

The ethnobotanical research is one of the main resources for the identification of plants of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical interest, assuming also that the prolonged use over the centuries can give more guarantees on the safety profile. This line of research aims to obtain information about the use of a specific plant in traditional medicine, and it is of particular interest in areas characterized by high biodiversity, such as some Mediterranean regions (e.g. Sardinia), India and Africa. In order to enhance local biodiversity, many ethnobotanical studies are also conducted in the hill area of Bologna and its province. The selected plants are then often subjected to more detailed studies concerning the phytochemical composition and biological activities.