Food Biotechnology Laboratory Course

Abstract

Students carry out processes for the production of fermented foods and bioingredients. Experimental blocks: fermentation in state of the art bioreactors; cheese production in a modern pilot cheese plant and microbial and metabolites analysis during cheese ripening; yoghurt production and protective cultures; impact of functional food ingredients tested in an in vitro intestinal digestion model.

Objective

To demonstrate the operation of complete fermentation processes for the production of selected fermented foods and bioingredients; running of small fermenters to understand the effects of important parameters of fermentation processes, including raw materials, and their control; to better understand the effects of functional ingredients on the human gut microbiota in vitro; to analyze the effects of defined fermentation conditions on the quality of final products; to scientifically present experimental approaches and data in a complete report.

Content

This laboratory course includes four experimental blocks: - Fermentation in state of the art bioreactors: preparation of equipment, media and starter culture, monitoring and control of the productive phase, analysis of samples for biomass and metabolic products, data interpretation and calculation of kinetics, comparison of different fermentation conditions; - Cheese production in a modern pilot cheese plant and cheese ripening: manufacturing of model cheeses at Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux, cheese ripening, monitoring of metabolites and microbiological composition and hygienic quality of cheese, estimation of process efficiency and yield calculation, comparison of different fermentation conditions; - Yoghurt production at small scale with different starter cultures, assaying the principle of biopreservation by using protective cultures against yeast and mould growth and microbial analysis of their efficacy during storage of the fermented products. - Impact of different prebiotic food ingredients on the microbiota in a in vitro small scale intestinal model fermentation.

Resources