Strategies to Improve the Quality of Foods

José Manuel Lorenzo is Head of Research at the Meat Technology Centre of Galicia (CTC), Ourense, Spain and Associate Professor at the University of Vigo, Spain. He received his M.S. in Food Science and Technology (University of Vigo). He obtained his Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology (University of Vigo) in 2006. He has started his scientific career in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Vigo, first as researcher scholarship, then, since April 2006, as academic Researcher. In 2006-2005 from October to March, he completed a stage period for his research project at the Stazione Sperimentale per L´Industria delle Conserve Alimentaria, (Parma, Italy). He has been PI of several projects of R&D and innovation related to meat science and food technology. He has developed numerous projects, many related to agro-industry and meat companies, and acquired extensive experience in the field of food technology. During this period, he completed my analytic training in LC and GC, developing methods to quantify levels of lipid/protein oxidation, lipid fractionation by SPE and vitamins with HPLC/FD/DAD and volatiles by GC/MS. These have focused on 1) Characterization of the products from different species under different rearing conditions, such as pigs, poultry or horsemeat; 2) Extension of food shelf life using natural extracts with antioxidant and antimicrobial capacities from agro-products; 3) Understanding physicochemical, biochemical and microbial changes during the technological processes applied to meat products; and 4) Development of new, healthier meat foods based on fat and salt reduction or improving lipid profile modification, replacement of fat, or incorporating functional compounds. Currently, he is involved in identifying proteomic and biomarkers associated with pastiness in dry-cured ham and their consequences for meat quality, using proteomic 2-DE techniques for protein separation and subsequent identification and quantification applying HPLC/MS/MS.