University of Bologna

The University of Bologna, Alma Mater Studiorum (UNIBO), was founded in 1088 and is considered to be the oldest university in Western Europe. It accounts for 100,000 enrolled students, 33 departments, 3,000 academics and 3,000 administrative staff. At UNIBO research activities are promoted and coordinated by departments autonomously. The UNIBO research group participating at the project is formed by researchers belonging to the Department of Agricultural Science (DiPSA), which has been recently constituted by the joining of several Departments belonging to the former Faculty of Agriculture. The research activity in the food sector at DiPSA is focused on the improvement of food safety with the use of non environmental impact technologies, such as the application of probiotics, protective cultures and natural antimicrobial substances, primary production, plant physiology and food crop quality, with particular emphasis on the characterization of plant matrices in terms of bioactive compounds positively affecting human health.