Selection criteria for starters to be used in food industry. Starter production; Microbial starters for the production of cheeses, fermented milk beverages, leavened baked goods, wine, beer, fermented sausages and vegetables. Mathematical models for microbial growth. Microbiological risks and predictive models. Primary, secondary and tertiary models: microbial growth curves and modelling.

- C.A. Batt e P.D. Patel. Encyclopedya of Food Microbiology, Academic Press.
- P.F. Fox, P.L.H. McSweeney, T.M. Cogan e T.P. Guinee. Cheese Chemistry, Physics and microbiology, Elsevier Academic Press.
- Wood, B.J.B. Microbiology of Fermented Foods. 2.a ed. Glascow: Blackie Academic & Professional (1998).
- McKellar, Robin and Lu, Xuewen. Modeling Microbiology Food Responses CRC PRESS 2004.
- Jay, J.M. Modern Food Microbiology. 5.a ed. London: Chapman & Hall International Thomson Publishing (1997).

Ecophysiology of food microorganisms: intrinsic and extrinsic factors which influence microbial growth. Environmental adaptation responses. Microbiological risk. Control of microorganisms in foods: use of chemicals, radiations, low and high temperatures, drying and filtration. Control of microorganisms in food with innovative methods. Applications of the direct and indirect approaches for determining the number of microorganisms; Analytical evaluation of the trend of fermentative processes by the study of microbial growth and metabolomics. Identification of microrganisms with conventional and innovative techniques.

- Madigan, M.T., J.M. Martino e J. Parker. Brock. Biologia dei Microrganismi (traduzione italiana della 10a edizione di Brock Biology of Microrganisms), 2003.
- Jay, J.M. Modern Food Microbiology. 5.a ed. London: Chapman & Hall International Thomson Publishing (1997).