PhD student profile, Andrea Bresciani

PhD Student: Andrea Bresciani (ORCID n. 0000-0002-9227-6084)

 

Tutor: Prof. Alessandra Marti- DeFENS

Dean: Prof. Diego Mora

Research area: Food Science and Nutrition

PhD title achieved on: 20^th October 2022

Research topic

Role of macromolecules in defining the nutritional and technological properties of cereals, pseudocereals, and pulses

 

Project Synopsis

My Ph.D. project is aimed at understanding the relationship between raw materials and processing conditions and their effect on the quality of grain-based products. This project focuses on the macromolecular component in cereals and pulses – mainly starch and proteins – and how they interact during different processing. Interactions are studied using a multidisciplinary approach, by conventional and advanced methodologies. Results could help to identify which raw material and process are most suitable for re-design food products from non-conventional raw materials with desirable texture and improved nutritional features.

 

Project keywords

Cereals, Legumes, Protein, Starch, Process engineering

 

Contacts

DeFENS – Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences

Università degli Studi di Milano

Via G. Celoria, 2, Milan (MI), 20133

Phone: +39 02 503 16640

e-mail: andrea.bresciani@unimi.it

 

Collaborations

Prof. Barbiroli Alberto Giuseppe– Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences / Università degli Studi di Milano

Prof. Massimo Blandinio- Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA)/ Università` degli Studi di Torino

Dr. Gianluca Giuberti- Department for Sustainable Food Process (DiSTAS)/ Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

 

Sponsor

Fellowship sponsor: self-funded

Project sponsor: industries active in cereal technology

 

Publications

Pulse-based products:

Bresciani, A., & Marti, A. (2019). Using pulses in baked products: Lights, shadows, and potential solutions. Foods, 8(10), 451. DOI: 10.3390/foods8100451

Proserpio, C., Bresciani, A., Marti, A., & Pagliarini, E. (2020). Legume flour or bran: sustainable, fiber-rich ingredients for extruded snacks? Foods 2020, 9(11), 1680; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9111680

Bresciani, A., Giuberti, G., Cervini, M., & Marti, A. (2021). Pasta from yellow lentils: How process affects starch features and pasta quality. Food Chemistry, 364, 130387 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.130387

Bresciani, A., Iametti, S., Emide, D., Marti, A., & Barbiroli, A. Molecular features and cooking behavior of pasta from pulses. Cereal Chemistry. DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/cche.10490

Cereal-based products:

Alfieri, M., Bresciani, A., Zanoletti, M., Pagani, M. A., Marti, A., & Redaelli, R. (2020). Physical, chemical and pasting features of maize Italian inbred lines. European Food Research and Technology, 246(11), 2205-2214. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-020-03565-1

Bresciani, A., Giordano, D., Vanara, F., Blandino, M., & Marti, A. (2020). The effect of the amylose content and milling fractions on the physico-chemical features of co-extruded snacks from corn. Food Chemistry, 128503. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.128503

Bresciani, A., Giordano, D., Vanara, F., Blandino, M., & Marti, A. (2021). High-amylose corn in gluten-free pasta: Strategies to deliver nutritional benefits ensuring the overall quality. Food Chemistry, 353, 129489. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129489

 

Posters:

Bresciani, A., Marti, A. (2019). Pasta from pulses: conventional extrusion or extrusion-cooking?. Cereals & Grains Annual Meeting. November 3-5 (Denver, US).

Bresciani, A., Blandino, M., Marti, A. (2020). Pulses in snacks production: relationship between raw materials and product features. Cereals & Grains Annual Meeting. October 25-November 13 (Virtual Meeting).

Bresciani, A., Giuberti, G., Marti, A. (2021). Yellow lentils pasta: how extrusion conditions impact on cooking quality. Cereals & Grains Annual Meeting. November 17-18 (Virtual Meeting).

 

Others

Memberships:

Cereals & Grains Association (since 2018)

Cereals & Europe Association (since 2019)

Italian Association of Cereal Science and Technology – AISTEC (since 2020)

 

Awards

“Gold Awards” 2021 Global Food Science Student Virtual Competition, 13th Internationa Conference and Exhibition on Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (organized by The International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods)

“MillporeSigma Virtual Meeting Fellowship” to present the research “Yellow lentils pasta how extrusion conditions impact on starch organization, protein interactions and cooking quality” at the conference Cereals & Grains 2021

“Viewer’s Choice” prize of the 2020 Student Research Video Competition sponsored by the Biomarker for Grains, Pulses Technical Committee and Cereals & Grains (Cereal & Grains, 2020)

2^nd place in the “Virtual Product Development Competition-21” (Cereal & Grains, 2021) for the development of “SUN-RICE: SUstainable sNack from RIce and Chikpea waste strEams”. (Role: Team Leader of the “IT_EAM”)

 

Additional experiences:

Participation in the course held by Università di Parma, School of Advanced Studies on Food and Nutrition – “Yakult academy on nutrition communication. Comunicazione scientifica in rete: opportunità e criticità nelle dinamiche social – 3° edizione”. Online course, September 27- October 4, 2021.

Traineeship project entitled “High moisture extrusion of legume-based proteins for the production of meat analogues: process development and validation of ultrasound sensor for measuring texturization”. July 1-October 31, 2021; Brabender GmbH & Co. KG (Duisburg, Germany)

 

Institutional responsibilities:

Representative of research assistants within the Department Council of DeFENS – Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences of Università degli Studi di Milano