{"id":3831,"date":"2026-01-19T15:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/?p=3831"},"modified":"2026-01-21T11:57:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T10:57:20","slug":"phd-student-profile-gabriele-brenna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/2026\/01\/19\/phd-student-profile-gabriele-brenna\/","title":{"rendered":"PhD student profile, Gabriele Brenna"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry\">\n\n\n<p><strong>PhD Student<\/strong>:\u00a0 Gabriele Brenna (ORCID n. <a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-8711-5502\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">0009-0000-8711-5502<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3832\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gabriele-Brenna.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gabriele-Brenna.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gabriele-Brenna-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Supervisor<\/strong>: Prof.ssa Costanza Jucker \u2013 DeFENS<\/p>\n<p><strong>Co-tutor<\/strong>: Prof.ssa Barbara Scaglia &#8211; DiSAA<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dean<\/strong>: Prof. Diego Mora<\/p>\n<p><strong>Research area<\/strong>: Food Science and Nutrition<\/p>\n<p><strong>Research topic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Insect-based bioconversion of agro-industrial waste for multifunctional by-products within a circular economy framework<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Project Synopsis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Bioconversion of agro-industrial waste by <\/em>Hermetia illucens<em> for chitin valorization<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This PhD project aims to enhance the valorization of locally available agri-food by-products through the rearing of <em>Hermetia illucens<\/em>, focusing on chitin production and downstream applications within a circular economy framework. Selected local by-products will be evaluated as rearing substrates by assessing insect growth performance, survival, biomass yield, and bioconversion efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>The effect of different substrates on insect chitin content will be investigated through chemical extraction and quantitative analyses. Microbiological screening of selected substrates will be performed to characterize microbial communities and identify bacteria potentially associated with enhanced chitin production. Selected strains will be tested as probiotics to evaluate their ability to increase insect chitin content.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, insect frass derived from the experimental diets will be assessed for its biostimulant activity by monitoring plant growth parameters and tolerance to abiotic stress.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3833\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Project-Brenna.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"643\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Project-Brenna.jpg 643w, https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Project-Brenna-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Project keywords<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Insects; by-product; circular economy;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Contacts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, DeFENS<\/p>\n<p>Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano<\/p>\n<p>Via Celoria 2, 20133, Milan\/ Italy<\/p>\n<p>Email address: gabriele.brenna@unimi.it<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Collaborations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Prof.ssa Barbara Scaglia, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Ambientali, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano.<\/p>\n<p>Prof.ssa Rosmarie Tedeschi, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Torino.<\/p>\n<p>Prof. Luciano Pinotti, Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria e Scienze Animali, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sponsor<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Fellowship sponsor<\/em>: Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Publications<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Communication to congresses: oral presentation<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jucker C., <strong>Brenna G<\/strong>., Bigarella E., Crotti E. (2025). Bioconversion of agri-food by-products through Hermetia illucens larvae and evaluation of probiotic administration. CNIE XXVIII congresso nazionale italiano di entomologia, Siena 16-20 giugno 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Candian V., Bigarella E., Hentati D., <strong>Brenna G<\/strong>., Jucker C., Crotti E., Tedeschi R. (2025). New insight into Tenebrio molitor hemolymph microbiota. CNIE XXVIII congresso nazionale italiano di entomologia, Siena 16-20 giugno 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Crotti E., Bigarella E., <strong>Brenna G<\/strong>., Tedeschi R., Jucker C. (2025). The influence of different agri-food processing wastes on the gut microbiota of the black soldier fly Hermetia illucens. CNIE XXVIII congresso nazionale italiano di entomologia, Siena 16-20 giugno 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Communication to congresses: poster<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Brenna G<\/strong>., Tedeschi R., Crotti E., Jucker C. (2025). From waste to resource: potential of tomato peels for Tenebrio molitor rearing. CNIE XXVIII congresso nazionale italiano di entomologia, Siena 16-20 giugno 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Hentati D., Bigarella E., Candian V., Savio C., <strong>Brenna G<\/strong>., Jucker C., Tedeschi R., Crotti E. (2025). Assessing the Influence of Agro-Industrial By-Products on the Hemolymph and Gut Microbiota of the Yellow Mealworm Tenebrio molitor. BAGECO 17th Symposium on Bacterial Genetics and Ecology, Graz (Austria) 1-4 luglio 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Hentati D., Bigarella E., Candian V., Savio C., <strong>Brenna G<\/strong>., Jucker C., Tedeschi R., Crotti E. (2025). Impact of Agro-Industrial By-Products on the Gut and Hemolymph Microbiota of the Yellow Mealworm Tenebrio molitor. FEMS micro, Europe\u2019s premier Congress &amp; Exhibition for microbial research, Milano 14-17 luglio 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Crotti E., Bigarella E., Hentati D., Candian V., Savio C., <strong>Brenna G<\/strong>., Jucker C., Tedeschi R. (2025). Microbial interactions in mass-reared insects to promote host growth and health. FEMS micro, Europe\u2019s premier Congress &amp; Exhibition for microbial research, Milano 14-17 luglio 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Crotti E., Bigarella E., <strong>Brenna G<\/strong>., Jucker C. (2025) Modulation of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Gut Microbiota by Agri-Food Processing By Products. SIMTREA, 8th International Conference on Microbial Diversity, Roma 23-26 settembre 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PhD Student:\u00a0 Gabriele Brenna (ORCID n. 0009-0000-8711-5502) \u00a0 Supervisor: Prof.ssa Costanza Jucker \u2013 DeFENS Co-tutor: Prof.ssa Barbara Scaglia &#8211; DiSAA Dean: Prof. Diego Mora Research area: Food Science and Nutrition Research topic Insect-based bioconversion of agro-industrial waste for multifunctional by-products within a circular economy framework \u00a0 Project Synopsis Bioconversion of agro-industrial waste by Hermetia illucens &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93,59],"tags":[187,248,383],"class_list":{"0":"post-3831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news","7":"category-phd-student-profile","8":"tag-by-product","9":"tag-circular-economy","10":"tag-insects","11":"anons"},"modified_by":"admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3831"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3944,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3831\/revisions\/3944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}