| Responsible Department | Department of Food Science | ||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | MSc. 1 year to MSc. 2 year | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||
| Level of Course | MSc | ||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination written examination and oral examination All aids allowed Description of Examination: Before the examination the students will hand in a minor report based on a theoretic topic and experimental results obtained during practicals. The report will account for 25 % of the grade. An oral examination will account for 75 % of the grade. At the time of the oral examination, one question is drawn, and the examination proceeds without preparation time. 7-point scale, external examiner | ||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Approx. 35 % of the time is used on lectures, 10 % on theoretical exercises and 55 % on practicals | ||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 1 Week Structure: C | ||||||||||||||
| Language of Instruction | English | ||||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | 270009 | ||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | None | ||||||||||||||
| Course Content | |||||||||||||||
| The course will have major focus on the microorganisms involved in the processing of various fermented food and beverages. The course will deal with the taxonomy of important microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Bacillus spp., yeasts and moulds including both phenotypic characteristics and molecular typing techniques for their identification. Methods for isolation including both culture and culture in-dependent techniques will be covered. This will include techniques such as DGGE, RT-PCR and high through put sequencing as well as various tools for bioinformatics. Various fermentation techniques will be introduced covering the use of starter cultures, growth yield and fermentation techniques such as back-slopping. An introduction to various fermented foods and beverages will be given including products such as cheese, bread, wine and beer as well as a number of traditional indigenous fermented foods. Focus will additionally be on microbial interactions including topics such as quorum sensing, bacteriocin formation etc. | |||||||||||||||
| Teaching and learning Methods | |||||||||||||||
| Lectures, theoretical and laboratory practicals. The lectures will introduce issues of importance for the understanding of microbial behavior during production of fermented food and beverages. The theoretical and laboratory practicals will give the student practice on how to identify various microorganisms and how to use various methodologies within molecular biology. | |||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||
| The objective of the present course is to give the students a thorough knowledge on the microbiology behind production of fermented food and beverages. The students will be able to understand and identify the important parameters leading to optimal product quality and food safety. After finalizing the course the students will have knowledge on: the taxonomy of important groups of microorganisms used in fermented food and beverages; various methodologies for their isolation and characterization; various fermentation technologies; the characteristics of a huge number of fermented food and beverages; microbial interactions at both inter- and intraspecies level. The students will have skills to isolate and identify the predominant microorganisms in fermented food and beverages i.e. lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus spp., yeasts and moulds. The students will have competences to fully understand at the molecular level the behavior and interaction between various groups of microorganism and thereby take measures to ensure optimal product quality. | |||||||||||||||
| Course Literature | |||||||||||||||
| Scientific publications, compendia and text book chapters | |||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||
| Lene Jespersen, lj@life.ku.dk, Department of Food Science/Food Microbiology, Phone: 353-33230 | |||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||
| Study Committee LSN | |||||||||||||||
| Work Load | |||||||||||||||
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