Course code:
432B1		 Course name:
Biochemistry of Food and Nutrition

Academic year:

2019/2020.

Attendance requirements:

401B1 + 411B1 + 063B1

ECTS:

7

Study level:

basic academic studies

Study program:

Biochemistry: 4. year, winter semester, elective (E14B1) course

Teachers:

Milan R. Nikolić, Ph.D.
associate professor, Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski trg 12-16, Beograd

Vladimir P. Beškoski, Ph.D.
full professor, Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski trg 12-16, Beograd

Assistant:

Aleksandra N. Žerađanin, Ph.D.
research assistant, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Njegoševa 12, Beograd

Hours of instruction:

Weekly: three hours of lectures + four hours of labwork (3+0+4)

Goals:

This course is intended for students who want to engage in food research or to work in food industry. The course introduces students to the physiological, biochemical and molecular basis of food components, and to the effects of food/nutrition on human body and health.

Outcome:

Students will acquire the knowledge of food components from both (bio)chemical and physiological perspective. They will also acquire skills necessary for the analysis of foodstuff and testing digestibility and bioavailability of individual food components.

Teaching methods:

Lectures; Experimental exercises; term papers.

Extracurricular activities:

—

Coursebooks:

Main coursebooks:

  • Fennema's Food Chemistry, 4th Edition, by Srinivasan Damodaran (Editor), Kirk L. Parkin (Editor), Owen R. Fennema (Editor), CRC Press; 2007.
  • The science of nutrition, 2nd Edition, by Janice L. Thompson, Melinda M. Manore, Linda A. Vaughan, Pearson Education, Inc.; 2011.
  • Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism, 6th Edition, by Sareen S. Gropper, Jack L. Smith, Cengage Learning; 2013.

Supplementary coursebooks:

  • Selected review papers.

Additional material:

—

  Course activities and grading method

Lectures:

5 points (3 hours a week)

Syllabus:

Thematic units:

  1. The basic principles of healthy eating (nutrients and protective foods); basal metabolism.
  2. Food digestion, absorption and interconversion of nutrient molecules.
  3. Proteins and lipids as food components: sources, digestibility, biochemical roles.
  4. Carbohydrates and dietary fibers as food components: types, sources, biochemical roles.
  5. Vitamins: types, sources, biochemical roles.
  6. Macroelements (Na, K, Mg, Ca, P) and microelements (Fe, Cr, Zn, Se, I, F, Cu, Mn, Mo): sources, usability, biochemical roles.
  7. The nutritional value of milk, meat, animal fats, cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetables, beverages (coffee, cocoa, tea).
  8. Nutrition in pregnancy, child nutrition, nutrition for athletes, nutrition for seniors; vegetarianism.
  9. Biological and chemical methods of food preservation; additives as food components.
  10. Natural sweet substances and synthetic/artificial sweeteners as food components.
  11. Biochemical roles of microorganisms in food; probiotics and prebiotics.
  12. Organically grown food, genetically modified food, food allergens.

Labwork:

10 points (4 hours a week)

Syllabus:

  1. General principles of foodstuff analysis.
  2. Moisture content determination, ash content determination, elemental composition determination.
  3. Fat content determination (the Weibull-Stoldt method).
  4. The determination of digestibility.
  5. Wet digestion, the analysis of the mineral content.
  6. The determination of the total sterol and ergosterol content.
  7. The determination of the phosphorus content.
  8. The determination of vitamin C and vitamin E.
  9. The determination of beta-glucan in yeast.
  10. The chemical analysis of water.
  11. The determination of the content of caffeine and sweeteners in non-alcoholic beverages.
  12. Protein digestibility assays and the assessment of the allergenic potential of food proteins.
  13. The determination of the bioavailability of macro- and microelements.
  14. Biochemical activity of yeast and lactic acid bacteria in food preparation.

Semester papers:

25 points

Oral exam:

60 points