Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is an ancient fruit tree traditionally cultivated in the Near and Middle East. Presently, its most important growing regions include Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, USA, Italy and Spain, the latter country the largest European exporter. The pomegranate fruit can be divided into several anatomical compartments: outside peel, inside peel, and arils (pulp and seeds), the last part being usually used for consumption as is or for juice, jams and jellies production. Even though pomegranate seeds are an industrial by-product, recent reports have highlighted their potential use as a source of oil with beneficial chemical attributes. Therefore, the main objective of the present work was to characterize the seed oil of nine European pomegranate varieties, collected in Spain, for their fatty acid and vitamin E compositions. All seed lipid fractions consisted mainly of punicic acid (c9,t11,c13 C-18:3), ranging between 77.3% and 83.6% of total fatty acids, followed by small amounts of linoleic acid (C18:2n6), oleic acid (C18:1n9) and palmitic acid (C16:0). Regarding vitamin E composition, α-, γ-, δ-tocopherols were found in all pomegranate seed oils, but mainly γ-tocopherol, with total tocopherols ranging from 174.5 to 627.3 mg/100g oil. The richness of these pomegranate varieties seed oils in punicic acid, a conjugated linolenic acid with interesting anti-carcinogenic activity, and the elevated amount of tocopherols on the extracted lipids, of technological and nutritional relevance, make this by-product interesting for further exploitation.

Food innovation and entrepreneurship are important topics in graduate food studies. Students should be challenged to promote an innovative attitude towards their future career in the food industry sector, as professionals working in a small and medium-sized enterprise, or in a large multinational company, or even as entrepreneurs with their own working projects. The present case study shows a curricular unit of a master course that intends to integrate the knowledge on new and sustainable technologies and products, based on seminars of experts on hot topics, on visits to food industry enterprises and market expositions and on the development of a state-of-the-art report about an emergent or novel food technology or product with oral presentation. Hot topic seminars included edible coatings, bioprocessing, allying tradition and innovation in food products, new convenience foods, challenging tests, and new clean and sustainable processes. Entrepreneur alumni lectures were also promoted allowing exchange of experiences. Visits included a high pressure technology unit of a food industry, an innovation and development department of a food industry, an entrepreneurship centre and a food exhibition. A satisfaction survey was made, through the response of a questionnaire by the students, proving the effectiveness and success of this unit course framework. A SWOT analysis was carried out to gain a better understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in the curricular unit objectives.

Several types of equipment have been used to predict dough behaviour during breadmaking. The complexity of requirements means that no device is able to predict all the properties, and therefore, new tests are released continuously. The Chopin Mixolab mixes the dough at different temperatures, allowing the study of dough mixing properties, weakening, gelatinization, gel stability and retrogradation in one test. The objective of this work was to study the suitability of the Mixolab to predict rheological properties and breadmaking quality of local wheats. Flour was obtained from 29 wheat samples from different genotypes and environments. The correlation of results from traditional analyses (test weight, protein content, sedimentation volume, wet gluten, Falling Number, Alveograph and Farinograph) with Mixolab parameters was studied. The properties of two different bread types were compared with all these parameters. Stability and water absorption values from the Farinograph were highly correlated with the respective Mixolab parameters. It was concluded that wheat samples could be sorted by mixing properties in similar order independently of which method was used. Beyond that, gluten strength estimators obtained from these three rheological methods and the sedimentation volume test were highly correlated. Whilst the correlation of Mixolab parameters with pan loaf volume was not as high as traditional ones, Mixolab developing time, stability and C5 were the best correlated with the most important hearth bread characteristics. Studies performed by other researchers, using wheats from diverse origins, found different results. The need for empirical rheology evaluation with local wheat samples was proved.

Donkey milk has functional properties of great interest to human nutrition. The effects of ultra-high pressure homogenization (UHPH) at 100 MPa, 200 MPa and 300 MPa in comparison with different pasteurization treatments of 70 ◦C for 1 min and 85 ◦C for 1 min on the physicochemical quality and shelf-life of treated and raw (untreated) donkey milk were studied. Gross composition and pH, total mesophilic counts, lysozyme activity and physical stability were studied during storage at 4 ◦C for 28 days. The compositional profile showed resemblance to that of human milk characterized by high lactose, low fat and low protein content and was least affected by the treatments. UHPH treatments at 200 MPa, 300 MPa and 85 ◦C were able to maintain steady pH during storage whereas the low intensity treatments showed a significant decrease. The observed lysozyme activity in the samples was generally high and appeared to have been enhanced by the applied UHPH and pasteurization treatments with no significant change during storage. Although the raw milk showed good initial microbial quality, extensive growth of mesophilic microorganisms occurred after 7 days of storage, unlike the treated samples which were able to maintain significantly low counts throughout the storage period. The physical stability of milk was negatively influenced by the higher UHPH treatments of 200 MPa and 300 MPa which exhibited sedimentation phenomenon, while creaming was insignificant.

Agro-food companies are aware that the technical and soft skills of their employees directly influence business performance and, consequently, improving those skills will enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their companies. This paper presents the main results of the AgriTraining project “Training requirements for the agro-food industry”. Activities in pursuit of the objectives of this project involved: (1) analysis of the training needs in the agro-food industry in Portugal; (2) analysis of the training provision and the training organizations; (3) analysis of market trends; (4) definition of a training strategy; and (5) adjustment and development of training strategies for the agro-food sector. This last activity comprised the development of training curricula, suitable for the food sector as a whole and adjusted for the specific needs of some traditional industries, in order to promote the development and competitiveness of the agro-food industry in Portugal. Such training curricula aimed to promote the uptake of innovative technologies and methodologies, increase the ability of agro-food industries to invest and take risks, and enable adoption of European Community standards for production and marketing. Gaps in training supply were identified and the training provision was updated according to the needs of the agro-food companies. It was determined that companies need and demand knowledge and innovation to increase their competitive position for internationalization purposes. It was possible to define a training strategy based on market-orientation for agro-food differentiation. 

Higher education students usually ask for more training based on case studies. This was addressed by designing a specific food safety module (24 hours) in which students were shown how to predict microbiological risks in food products i.e. they were asked to determine product shelf-life according to product formulation, preservation methods and consumption habits using predictive microbiology tools. Working groups of four students first identified the main microbiological hazards associated with a specific product. To perform this task, they were given several documents including guides for good hygiene practices, reviews on microbiological hazards in the food sector, flow sheets, etc. . . After three-hours of work, the working groups prepared and gave an oral presentation in front of their classmates and professors. This raised comments and discussion that allowed students to adjust their conclusions before beginning the next step of their work. This second step consisted in the evaluation of the safety risk associated with the two major microbiological hazards of the product studied, using predictive microbiology. Students then attended a general lecture on the different tools of predictive microbiology and tutorials (6 hours) that made them familiar with the modelling of bacterial growth or inactivation. They applied these tools (9 hours) to predict the shelf-life of the studied product according to various scenarios of preservation (refrigeration, water activity, concentration of salt or acid, modified atmosphere, etc. . . ) and/or consumption procedures (cooking). The module was concluded by oral presentations of each working group and included student evaluation (3 hours).

Application of an optimized cold chain management system for frozen products can be assisted by monitoring with Time Temperature Integrators (TTI). TTI are smart labels that cumulatively show the product history in an easily measurable, time-temperature dependent change. In the IQ-Freshlabel European project enzymatic and photochromic TTI were developed and tested for frozen products. Further to the technical objectives, training activities were implemented to provide information and training to the staff of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) regarding the properties of the developed TTI and their utilization within food packaging, transport, storage and sale. In total, more than 276 European companies and consumers representing the frozen food industry, the packaging industry and food business operators were successfully trained. The objective of the present article is to describe a general methodology for frozen food shelf life testing and modelling, and the selection of appropriate TTI for specific foods. This document serves as a technical manual for SMEs, including a case study for frozen shrimp and application of enzymatic and photochromic TTI, aiming to build their capacities to understand and use TTI for frozen food products. The value of systematic modelling of the food quality kinetics as well as the response of the TTI in building an effective chill chain management system is also demonstrated. The TTI response study allows a reliable optimization and selection of TTI to be correlated to the target food product for which accurate information on temperature dependence is available. 

The qualifications of Food Science and Technology/Engineering (FST/E) professionals were examined by a web-based survey conducted in 15 countries (14 EU and Turkey). The analysis of the responses showed that 65% of the respondents had a higher education (HE) degree (BSc 29%, MSc 28%, and PhD 8%), and 20% carried out extracurricular training before entering in the job market. The main fields of study were Food Science and Technology/Engineering, followed by Agriculture, Nutrition and Health, Safety/Hygiene, and Chemical Engineering in all three levels of HE degrees. Differences in the level of degree between genders were not observed, although a higher percentage of female respondents (36% of all female respondents) reported no higher qualification degree, compared to male respondents (33% of all male respondents). On the contrary, female respondents prevailed in extracurricular studies, compared to male ones. Gender, however, was a differentiating factor as far as the field of studies was concerned with female respondents prevailing in Nutrition and Health and male in Agriculture. A considerable percentage of the respondents acquired either a HE degree or had extracurricular training while working in the 1st job. Extracurricular training both before entering the job market and during work at the 1st workplace comprised mainly the topics Safety and Hygiene, Management, followed by Sensory Science, FST/E and Nutrition and Health. In addition, Marketing Science/Consumer Behaviour was also one of the main topics of company or other training during work at the 1st workplace. 

AgroParisTech professors and librarians in Food Science and Technology have developed information literacy instruction to help students find and use relevant information. The course trains students to develop information literacy competencies: to identify the information needed and define its nature and extent; to access the information with efficiency because they select and use methods, resources and retrieval systems most appropriate to the topic; to evaluate the used methods, information, and sources; to search, access and use information ethically and legally; to read, use and write bibliographic references.
AgroParisTech trains two kinds of students. For Higher Education students (engineering students), the training takes place at their arrival in AgroParisTech, including courses and practical classes: role and management of information in organizations; information on plagiarism; resources in environment, food science and technology; use of relevant tools and methods for searching in databases; reference writing.
For students attending a Master of Science, the training prepares them to produce a literature review. The curriculum includes: information about scientific integrity, plagiarism; information needed for a researcher; critical reading of a journal article; how to manage a literature review: resources used, information search with databases, full text access; reference writing. The students will use these information literacy skills along their studies as well as in their future jobs.

Nowadays, there is an increasing need of new skills for PhD students to face the future labour market prospects. PhD graduates must have qualities attractive not only in academia but also outside, in both manufacture and service-oriented enterprises, in small innovative companies, and in the civil services and public administration, among others. To know what the needs of these future employees are, is of great importance to be able to improve their personal and academic formation. The aim of this work was, in the framework of the EC-funded ISEKI Food 4 network, to evaluate the most desirable specific and soft skills that PhD students should acquire by the end of their doctoral studies. To this aim,
several surveys were conducted and sent to the different stakeholders (academia and food industry partners) in order to collect the information needed. Results showed that competences related to research skills and techniques, research management, personal effectiveness and communication skills were considered to be the most valuable skills to be acquired by our PhD students to meet the future needs of the labour market. The importance of these skills was appreciated differently, depending on the stakeholder. To sum up, some recommendations to integrate such valuable skills into the curricula of the PhD student are given.