PhD Student: Marta Sindaco (ORCID n. 0009-0006-1518-2195)
Supervisor: Dr. Paolo D’Incecco, DeFENS
Co-tutor: Prof.ssa Luisa Pellegrino, DeFENS
Dean: Prof. Diego Mora
Research area: Food Science and Nutrition
Research topic
Improving technological, nutritional, and environmental sustainability of dairy products within a “from farm to fork” strategy.
Project Synopsis
The dairy sector plays an important role in achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to good health, wellbeing, poverty eradication, elimination of hunger and responsible consumption and production. Milk proteins have an important role in human nutrition due to their characteristics in terms of amino acid composition and digestibility. However, during processing and storage milk proteins may undergo several modifications which negatively affect both technological properties and nutritional value of the food.
In this context, this PhD project will investigate poorly studied modifications of milk proteins induced by both processing and storage conditions with the aims of providing new knowledge about: i) preserving protein quality of dairy products also exploring novel technologies; ii) extending the shelf life of dairy products. The final goal of this project will be to exploit integrated concepts of dairy science and technology to support the sustainable development of the dairy industry.
Project keywords
Milk components; Proteins; Sustainability; Shelf-life
Contacts
DeFENS – Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences
Università degli Studi di Milano
Via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano – Italy, Building 21040, Mezzanine Floor
marta.sindaco@unimi.it
Collaborations
Prof.ssa Sabrina Dallavalle (DeFENS, University of Milan)
UNItech NOLIMITS – advanced microscopy platform, University of Milan
UNItech OMICs – proteomic, lipidomic and metabolomic platform, University of Milan
Publications
Publications with impact factor
D’Incecco, P., Dallavalle, S., Musso, L., Rosi, V., Sindaco, M., & Pellegrino, L. (2024). Formation of di-Tyrosine in pasteurized milk during shelf storage. Food Chemistry, 435, 137566.
D’Incecco, P., Bettera, L., Bancalari, E., Rosi, V., Sindaco, M., Gobbi, S., … & Pellegrino, L. (2023). High-speed cold centrifugation of milk modifies the microbiota, the ripening process and the sensory characteristics of raw-milk hard cheeses. Food Research International, 113102.
Gerna, S., D’Incecco, P., Limbo, S., Sindaco, M., & Pellegrino, L. (2023). Strategies for Exploiting Milk Protein Properties in Making Films and Coatings for Food Packaging: A Review. Foods, 12(6), 1271.
Pellegrino, L., Hogenboom, J. A., Rosi, V., Sindaco, M., Gerna, S., & D’Incecco, P. (2022). Focus on the Protein Fraction of Sports Nutrition Supplements. Molecules, 27(11), 3487.
D’Incecco, P., Rosi, V., Fortina, M. G., Sindaco, M., Ricci, G., & Pellegrino, L. (2022). Biochemical, microbiological, and structural evaluations to early detect age gelation of milk caused by proteolytic activity of Pseudomonas fluorescens. European Food Research and Technology, 1-11.
Publications without impact factor
Sindaco, M., Rosi, V., Pellegrino, L., D’Incecco, P. (2023). Effetti della bactofugazione del latte sulla composizione e sulla maturazione proteolitica di un formaggio a pasta dura da latte crudo. Scienza e Tecnica Lattiero-Casearia, 73(2), 58-63.
Communications to congresses
Il 7° Congresso Lattiero-Caseario AITeL. Latte e derivati: una filiera che si confronta con la sostenibilità. Cremona, 7 settembre 2023 (oral presentation – La battofugazione del latte nella produzione di formaggi a pasta dura, M. Sindaco, P. D’Incecco – Università degli Studi di Milano)