Lines of Research, Purposes, and Objectives:
F.A.&A.F focuses on primary production and functional foods, and, in particular, on the characterization of raw materials, food safety and traceability, automation and digitization of production processes, new methodologies for microbiota analysis and its applications in terms of immune response. These interventions aim to support health and quality of life, impacting overall environmental and economic sustainability, goals even more urgent in the current health and economic emergency linked to Covid-19. The pandemic phase has indeed determined the need, on the one hand, to adopt, at the community level, new lifestyles more respectful of safety, hygiene, and public health and, on the other hand, the need to support business income and the competitiveness of the production system.
F.A.&A.F. has several purposes:
*The first one dedicated to Primary Production: it aims primarily to develop innovative monitoring systems for studying the impact of climate change on the phenology, productivity, and quality of plant productions of horticultural and medicinal-officinal species for the development of nutrition and irrigation plans, and low-impact environmental defense methods aimed at improving the properties of crops, raw materials, and their environmental sustainability. To collect various morpho-physiological, chemical, and genetic-molecular data, digital technologies based on robotics, big data, and distributed sensors for Agriculture 4.0 will be used.
Specifically, within the framework of this strategic-projectual line, it will also be possible to analyze the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic emergency on the agri-food and territorial system under focus, and develop strategies to revive the supply chains linked to the primary sector for better competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience. At the same time, the following objectives can also be pursued: 1) review of known knowledge regarding the effects determined by the Covid-19 emergency through the analysis of information contained in the main economic-productive databases of the "Agri-Food" sector at different territorial scales; 2) study of the perception of the effects of the pandemic by the productive sector and the different agri-food supply chains; 3) evaluation of the evolution of the demand for high-quality agri-food products and nutraceutical and functional products, as a consequence of new consumer lifestyles; 4) co-creation with sector stakeholders of strategies for the revival of the agri-food sector through the improvement of competitiveness, sustainability (economic, social, environmental), and resilience of the system.
The Industrial Research and Experimental Development lines through which to achieve the above objectives have been organized into a series of Work Packages (W.P). Below are the types of research (RI or SS) and the main themes addressed in the dedicated WP:
WP-SS-1 Innovations for the optimization of nutritional status and sustainability of phytosanitary defense in olive growing
WP-SS-2. Product and process innovation in the horticultural-floricultural sector
WP-SS -3 Veneto Greenhouse 4.0: Electrification and Digitalization
*The second purpose Functional Foods mainly consists of the characterization of foods that could improve immune response, interacting with the intestinal microbiota of animals of zootechnical interest (specifically monogastric animals) to define guidelines to be extended in the future also to the human organism. Knowledge related to the intestinal microbiota is constantly evolving given its influence and/or correlation with different aspects. Literature evidence indicates the influence of the intestinal microbiota on food absorption, modification of xenobiotic agents (including drugs), but also on the positive development of the functionality of the immune system, the onset of diseases, and the effect of prebiotics and postbiotics. The intestinal microbiota is composed of different species of bacteria, predominantly Firmicutes and Bacteroides, and can vary in quantity, depending on the state of well-being, the context in which one lives, and the lifestyle one leads, including nutrition. The microbial population of the intestine acts as a protective barrier thanks to the production of mucus, containing pathogenic microorganisms and, above all, keeps under control the immune system of the intestine defined as GALT (Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue). It is important, therefore, to guarantee the biodiversity of the microbiota, in order to strengthen the immune defenses to protect against potential pathogens including aggressive viruses. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to identify functional foods rich in fibers and proteins, accompanying the diet with supplements (also of plant origin) formulated on scientific evidence. Since there are several factors that characterize the intestinal microbiota and that have a different influence on each individual, it is necessary to identify a personalized diet, basing studies on nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics.
The project, therefore, highlights that highly innovative sectors such as functional food and "Smart-Food" require adequate research activity aimed at studying suitable raw materials and developing competitive finished products in this field. As already specified, the impact of new food products on individual well-being also depends on the interactions of food with the immune system, which in turn is influenced by the bacteria of the intestinal flora. This complex network of interactions must be evaluated with adequate experimental methods that not only concern the analysis of the microbiota but that also simultaneously study and evaluate some characteristics of the active principles (or more simply positively functional raw materials) and some characteristics such as digestibility, absorbency, etc.
Below are the types of research (RI or SS) and the main themes addressed in the dedicated WP:
WP-RI - 4 Qualification of raw materials for the improvement of food quality
WP -RI- 5 Development, validation, and execution of microbiological tests aimed at evaluating the maintenance of the functional properties of food ingredients
WP- SS - 6 Evaluation of the quality and functionality of food in relation to metabolism, health status, and well-being
WP-RI- 7 Improvement of the nutraceutical action of fish products
