The main objective of the Food Science and Engineering research group (FS&ERG) is to incorporate Food Science and Engineering knowledge in the local food production industry.

In this context, the FS&E research group aims to contribute to new regulations, standards, legislation and policies to protect and enhance the added value of regional functional foods and products, and to improve public health, by boosting the research on the human nutrition area.

Hence, it aims to study:

• Traditional products and processes: process inovation improving safety, quality and shelf life, and support new regulatory standards;
• Sustainable engineering: by-product valorization and waste minimization;
• Innovative food processing: food product development including functional foods and ingredients (their identification and mechanisms of action as well as protection) and new (including non-thermal) technologies. Development of fast and inexpensive extraction methods for bioactive compounds from food materials, study applications of bioactive compounds as food ingredients, evaluate the potential toxicity of food chemical components, evaluate chemical, physical, rheological and sensory properties variation caused by the inclusion of bioactive compounds as food ingredients, develop nanoencapsulation of bioactive compounds,
• Human nutrition and its relationship with health, lifestyle, physical activity and sports performance.