To provide the public with curiosities about the applications of research in the area, Unicamp's Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA) presents, from June 29th, the series “Food Processing for the Curious”.
The project is the result of a partnership between FEA and the Brazilian Food Industry Association (ABIA), established with the aim of popularizing science. The broadcasts, lasting an hour and a half with space for questions, will be made on the FEA YouTube channel, starting at 14pm, always on the last Wednesday of the month, from June to October.
Participants will be able to learn more about food: why it spoils, the main fundamentals of its conservation, processing methods applied at home and in industry, the role of processing in the quality and safety of food and the effects of this on its characteristics.
Why process food?
The lectures will be given by FEA professors, such as Mirna Gigante, who highlights the benefits of processing. “Processing food is, first of all, making it safe for consumption. Much of the raw material for the items we consume, of plant, animal and mineral origin, is highly perishable. This is because the richness in nutrients, water and pH are a suitable medium for the growth of a wide variety of microorganisms”, she explains.
These agents can quickly lead to food deterioration, making it unsuitable for consumption. “It can be said that, between microorganisms and man, there is a competition for food and whoever arrives first wins. Processing gives us an advantage in this battle. The industry works with techniques that use heat, cold, water removal and acidification, eliminating pathogens or inhibiting their development. All of this while preserving the nutritional and sensorial quality of the food as much as possible.”
Professor Julian Martínez, who is part of the group of presenters, recalls that the food industry only reproduces, on a large scale, applying technical and scientific knowledge, processes used for thousands of years and that we carry out daily without realizing it. “Without processing, we would be exposed to pathological agents that could cause various diseases.”
The main differences between home and industrial processing are the scale of production and the precision with which the industry controls the volume of ingredients, temperature and other process conditions, expiration dates and packaging methods. “Processing also plays an important role in preserving and promoting health. Pasteurizing, for example, eliminates disease-causing microorganisms. At the same time, fermentation provides health benefits, as it enhances nutrients, in addition to contributing to safe consumption for longer.”
Service – Round tables “Food Processing for the Curious”
Dates: 29/6, 27/7, 31/8, 28/9 and 26/10 (last Wednesday of the month)
Time: 14h to 15h30
