66044 - Chemistry And Technology Of Oils, Fats And Their Derivatives

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will have the basic knowledge about the production and processing technologies of fats and oils, as well as the degradation problems due to processing and storage. The student will be ble to critically evaluate the diverse technologies and the consequent chemical and physico-chemical modifications on oils and fats.

Course contents

1. Composition of oils and fats

2. The oil and fat industry in Italy and the rest of the world: production and marketing

3. Chemical reactions related to lipid stability

       3.1 Lipolysis

       3.2 Oxidation

4. Oil and fat sources

5. Storage and transport of oleaginous seeds

6. Seed preparation before oil extraction

7. Oil extraction

8. Oil refining

9. Packaging, storage and distribution of edible oils and fats

10. Modified oils and fats: hydrogenation, fractionation and interesterification

11. Margarine technology

12. Co-products and by-products of the oil and fat industry

13. Lipid analysis

14. Case studies of oil and fat utilization/application: the chocolate and frying

15. Future perspectives for the oil and fat industry

Readings/Bibliography

- Updated didactic materials, also available in AMS Campus - AlmaDL - Università di Bologna.

- Capella P., Fedeli E., Bonaga G., Lercker G., Manuale degli Oli e dei Grassi, Tecniche Nuove, Milano, 1997.

- Cappelli P., Vannucchi V., Chimica degli Alimenti. Trasformazione e conservazione, Zanichelli, Bologna, 2005. 

- Damodaran S., Parkin, K. L., Fennema O. R. Fennema's Food Chemistry , 4th ed., CRC Press, USA, 2007.

- Guardiola F., Dutta P.C., Codony R., Savage G. P. Cholesterol and Phytosterol Oxidation Products: Analysis, Occurrence, and Biological Effects. AOCS Press, Champaign (Illinois), 2002.

- http://lipidlibrary.aocs.org/

- http://www.lipidhome.co.uk/

- Specific scientific articles for the different topics.

Teaching methods

- Theoretical lessons.
- Practical group soft-skill exercise about technologies of extraction and refining of selected oils (such as soybean, sunflower, etc.), with a final powerpoint presentation by each working group.
- Seminars with sectors' experts.

Assessment methods

Course knowledge assessment can be carried out in one of the two following ways:

a) Two written partial exams, of 2-h length each. The tests are structured with 40% multiple choice questions and sentence completition, and 60% open questions about the program topics; each of these written exams should be passed with a mark of 18/30 at least. If the student would like to improve the mark of the written exams, he/she can perform oral examination/s for each written exam, which will be focused on the mistakes/lacks of the written tests.

b) One written exam, of 3-h length each. The test is structured with 40% multiple choice questions and sentence completition, and 60% open questions about the program topics; the written exam should be passed with a mark of 18/30 at least. If the student would like to improve the mark of the written exam, he/she can perform an oral examination, which will be focused on the mistakes/lacks of the written test.

The exams are focused on the students' assessment of knowledge acquisition of the program topics, as well as on the evaluation of the overall mentality and the skill acquired to face those topics.

Teaching tools

- Text books, published articles, materials used during lessons, databases, websites, search engines, literature search techniques.
- Practical lessons (PC sessions).
- Visit to an industry related to the edible fat/oil sector.

Office hours

See the website of Maria Teresa Rodriguez Estrada