Degree Course: Food science and technology Syllabus for A.Y. 2018/2019  

Elements of ecosystem ecology and biodiversity: ecosystem concept and definition; ecological factos; ecosystem functioning: flow of energy and matter through ecosystems, interactions at a community level, feed-back mechanisms, resistance and resilience of ecosystems; biodiversity concept and definitions: genetic diversity, taxonomic diversity, diversity of communities and ecosystems; reasons and geographic distribution of biodiversity; ecosystem productivity; agroecosystem types and their characteristics.

Environmental diversity: ecological systems, heterogeneity, complexity and scale; the landscape as ecological system; elements of landscape ecology; classification and mapping of climate, litho-morphology, soil, natural vegetation, land use and land cover; ecosystem geography and ecological classification of land.

Landscape ecology and agriculture: relationship between agriculture and natural vegetation; rural landscape and agricultural landscape; agriculture and biodiversity; landscape and cultural identity; threats to biodiversity and agriculture; sustainable development; traditional agricultural landscape; agriculture and protected areas.

Tools for the valorisation of food farming products: in-situ and ex-situ conservation, seed banks; environmental and landscape quality; multifunctional agriculture and ecosystem services.

E.P. Odum, 2000. Ecologia. Piccin - Nuova Libraria
C. Ferrari, 2011. Biodiversità. Dal genoma al paesaggio. Zanichelli 184 p., 2 ed
C. Ferrari, G. Pezzi, 2013. L'ecologia del Paesaggio. Il Mulino
M.G. Turner, R.H. Gardner, R.V. O'Neill, 2001. Landscape ecology in theory and practice, SpringerVerlag
B. Fu, K. B. Jones, 2013. Landscape Ecology for Sustainable Environment and Culture. Springer
Capogrossi R., Laureti L., Bagnaia R., Canali E., Augello R., 2017 “Carta del Valore NaturalisticoCulturale d’Italia. Un applicativo di Carta della Natura”. ISPRA, Serie Rapporti, 269/2017

Teaching material (handouts), scientific and information provided by the teacher

The course will illustrate how the peculiarities of numerous Italian plant food products, often outdated, are related to the response of the entire plant, and / or its edible organs, to changes in temperature, as shots of cold or heat, drought and alterations in organic / inorganic compounds in the soil, illustrating the relative biotechnology investigation, and possible enhancement in value.
At this end will be shown:
- Techniques for the maintenance and propagation of native species, obsolete species/varieties, and new cultivars, aimed to enhance their useful traits in unconventional breeding programs (e.g., grape, olive tree and rice).
- Techniques for the morpho-anatomy of ovaries and fruits for characterizing their developmental phases, and the related accumulation phases of nutrients in the pulp and seeds.
- Techniques for the production of somatic embryos and synthetic seeds for maintenance and large-scale preservation of agri-business cultivars recalcitrant in sexual reproduction.
- Cultivation techniques for the optimization of sustainable production through the recovery of waste in wine and olive oil production chains, to obtain natural products to use in integrated agriculture programs.
- Biotechnologies to improve seed germination and plant growth, to obtain products free of pesticide residues and / or contaminants in an integrated crop management.
- Use of the mechanisms of self-incompatibility and biotechnological apomixis, aimed at the production of seedless fruits, to increase their economic value.
- Biotechnology for inducing hermaphroditism in male sterile species of agricultural interest to increase agricultural productivity (e.g., kiwifruit and cereals).

Piante Alimentari. Biologia. Composizione Chimica. Utilizzo. Seconda Edizione. Editore Piccin
Plants and Society (fifth edition). Levetin and McMahon
In vitro embryogenesis in higher plants. Humana Press