Utilization and valorization of bioresources as a bioactive functional ingredients

Supervisors: Prof. Monica Anese

Project description:
Bioresources are naturally occurring materials, which are mainly represented by agricultural crops, marine resources, waste from agriculture and forests, as well as residues from industries, including the food industry. All these bioresources can be used for animal feeding or energy production. More recently, research on the utilization of bioresources for the production of a wide range of valuable products that are economically and industrially important. Considering this, the residue of coffee brewing beverages and instant coffee known as spent coffee grounds (SCG) is an awakened resource. Close to around 60 million kilograms are generated daily, worldwide. It is composed of carbohydrates, dietary fibre, hemicellulose, lignin, protein, and lipids (unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid (40-45%). SCG also contains several valuable bioactive compounds such as chlorogenic acids, phenolic compounds, tannins, caffeine, and melanoidins, which have potential health benefits such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities that have been proven in the literature. Apart from these, SCG oil has not been fully explored. This project currently focuses on the extraction and characterization of SCG oil, the bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds and exploitation as bioactive functional ingredients.

Biography and contacts:
Preetham Gowda Hosaholalu Ramesha was born in 2000 in Karnataka, India.
In 2020, he graduated B.Sc. in Biochemistry, Zoology and Food Science & Nutrition at Yuvaraja’s College, University of Mysore, Karnataka, India.
In 2022, he obtained an M.Sc. in Food Technology at the Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Haryana, India.
In February 2024, he started the doctoral course PhD in “Food Science” at the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine.

Email: hosaholaluramesha.preethamgowda@spes.uniud.it
Phone: +39 3282891396