PhD Studentship "Cereal sorting and processing techniques, and their impact on deoxynivalenol conta
- Employer
- Global Academy Jobs
- Location
- Spain
- Closing date
- Aug 24, 2018
View more
- Sector
- Science, Life Sciences, Cell and Molecular Biology, Veterinary Medicine
- Hours
- Full Time
- Organization Type
- University and College
- Jobseeker Type
- Academic (e.g. 'Lecturer')
Job Details
The summary of the project is:
Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites resulting from the secondary metabolism of molds, whose presence in food poses a risk to the food safety of the population. Among the many mycotoxins discovered to date, deoxynivalenol (DON) has been shown to be the most frequent one and which appears at the highest levels in raw materials and foodstuffs for human consumption. It is a toxin that generates a multitude of harmful effects on the health of living beings, such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, malaise, headache, throat irritation and allergic reactions. In addition, it can produce immunosuppression, reducing the body's defenses, which triggers other diseases, so eliminating it from the food chain must be a priority objective. The negative effects of the DON can be increased in the case of children, due to a lower maturity of their immune system, among other reasons.
An additional problem has been the discovery of the so-called modified mycotoxins, which still belonging to the same family as the original mycotoxin, have undergone a modification that makes them not detectable in the routine analyzes that are commonly carried out on this type of food . However, these mycotoxins, usually bound to the food matrix, can be released when they are subjected to different types of treatments, such as enzymatic hydrolysis, or generated after a heat treatment, so they must be taken into account when considering the toxicity of this group of compounds. Regeneration of the original mycotoxin in the intestinal tract has also been proven, which makes the situation worse.
Cereals are one of the main sources of DON contamination, due to the growth of Fusarium species in the field. These cereals after milling into flours and roasting are used for the manufacture of baby food for infant nutrition, being subjected to enzymatic reactions. In order to tackle the DON problem a holistic approach of the problem is requires, trying in all possible ways to avoid the entry of the toxin into the food chain. Consequently the present project has two main objectives, which are mainly related to the selection of the raw materials from which flour is produced and the evaluation of the effect of the manufacture of cereal based baby food on this mycotoxin and its derivatives.
Specifically, the overall objectives of the project are:
- Implementation and calibration of a spectroscopy equipment for the analysis of hyperspectral images obtained in the NIR (HSI-NIR) for the discrimination of wheat grains contaminated by DON at different levels.
- Evaluation of the evolution of the content of DON and its derivatives throughout the roasting process of wheat flour and other cereals, and enzymatic hydrolysis and subsequent heat treatment of the resulting slurry.
The expected results are, on the one hand, to have an HSI-NIR system that can be implemented in the cereal processing industries for the selection of raw materials and the disposal of cereal grains that are contaminated by DON. On the other hand, knowledge will be generated, in relation to the amount of DON, and the possible generation of its modified molecules, during the manufacture of the multicereal baby food. This result will have a practical application in reaching the Food Safety Objectives (FSO) of the baby food industry.
Position available for 1 year. After evaluation at the end of the first year, the contract can be extended up to 2 years more
Gross salary around 15.000 € / year
Company
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