Determination of the quality, discrimination between different products and confirmation of the authenticity of another are basically the same analytical problem. The basic assumption behind the application of spectroscopic techniques to this problem relies on the generation of the ‘‘fingerprint’’ of foods. Aim of this course is to present the different spectroscopic methods and the multivariate statistical analysis of experimental data associated with them.
Students will develop knowledge and understanding about the molecular basis of food sensory quality, the principles of chemical analytical techniques used to determine chemical compounds responsible for food flavour (basics of chromatography, of gas and liquid chromatography, along with application to the study of food flavour), the basic principles of sensory analysis and classification of sensory methods. Based on this, a skill students must learn in the course will be the ability to select appropriate chemical and sensory analytical techniques to solve specific issues in food quality evaluation and management. Consequently students will be able to make independent judgement about the best approach in food quality analysis and evaluation. Students will develop skills needed to clearly explain the above mentioned contents and to organise them in an understandable framework.