| Responsible Department | Department of Human Nutrition
65 % Department of Food Science 10 % Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology 25 % | ||||||||||||
| 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 Written Exam in Lecturehall All aids allowed Description of Examination: Two hour written examination in a class room. 7-point scale, internal examiner Dates of Exam: 25 January 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Requirement for Attending Exam | The group report must be submitted in order to sign up for the examination | ||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Two single or double lectures a week, two weekly theoretical exercises of two to six hours duration, individual preparatory work | ||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 2 Week Structure: C | ||||||||||||
| Language of Instruction | English | ||||||||||||
| Restrictions | None | ||||||||||||
| Course Content | |||||||||||||
| This course is mandatory as part of the M.Sc. education in Gastronomy and Health. The course is optional for the masters educations in Human Nutrition, Clinical Nutrition, Food Science, Biology Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine. The course will give examples of specific non-nutritive components in foods and their possible mechanisms of action. The course is the only one in these educations giving a systematic overview of non-nutritive bioactive components. The course will give a critical insight into the meaning of bioactivity and functional components, an important aspect of formulating claims. It also aims to give a more in-depth insight into the health effects of common plant-based foods, beverages and spices. Knowledge: - Describing the most common types of bioactive compounds and components in food plants and spices, and their modes of action in the human body. - Knowing the most important laboratory and clinical methods to evaluate typical health effects of plant foods in human studies in comparison to cell culture and animal studies. - Knowing the use of the most common experimental designs in the study of plant effects on health or health-related biomarkers. - Referring to the formal scientific demands for placing a health claim on a food product, - an important criterium for applying innovative activities in the biotechnology field. Abilities: - Critically assessing methods, results, and conclusions in scientific papers within bioactive compounds, human health and innovation. - Evaluating the contribution of several studies on a plant food product to conclusions on their effects on human health, enabling claims to be formulated for bioactive compounds. Competence: - Working independently and analytically with scientific literature. - Critical oral and written presentation. - Insights into what it takes to bring a health-promoting product to the market. | |||||||||||||
| Teaching and learning Methods | |||||||||||||
| In each session there will first be lectures in a general subject or on a specific group of plants with examples of potentially active ingredient groups related to one or more commonly reported actions in humans. The selected group(s) of ingredients would represent a typical agonist for a biochemical or physiological effect. Lectures will be followed by theoretical exercises, typically including critical reading of original articles on the days theme followed by plenary discussions or short individual and ad hoc group presentations. | |||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||
| This course contains a series of lectures starting with an introduction to the area, its basic vocabulary and scientific methodologies. Then a series of lectures will exemplify food plant bioactive components, shortly touching upon their functionality in the plant but with a main focus on their bioavailability and biochemical transformations, their bioactivities at the physiological, nutritional and biochemical level after consumption, and the scientific methodologies used to investigate such actions. Organoleptic qualities will also be covered. The following lectures and themes for theoretical exercises will be typically covered: 1. Overview of basic concepts in evaluation of bioactivity and functionality, including demands on scientific documentation for health claims and basics of chemical safety evaluation. 2. Overview of plant foods and health. How strong is the evidence for disease prevention and what is known or speculated about mechanisms. 3. Relationship between special plant components and taste, interactions in taste. 4. Vegetables 1: Crucifers including cabbage, mustards and watercress (glucosinolates; indoles; isothiocyanates; nuclear receptors; cell cycle control). 5. Vegetables 2: Onion, garlic, carrots, asparagus, parsnip tomato, non-crucifer green vegetables (polysulphides, alkyns, carotenoids etc.; phase 1 and 2 enzyme induction, effects on vision, pro-vitamin A). 6. Fruit: Stone fruit, grapes and citrus (flavonols, ascorbate, triterpenes, carotenoids; antioxidation, effects on cholesterol). 7. Berries, grapes (strawberry, blueberry, craneberry, grapes; polyphenols (catechins and anthocyanins), stilbenes; anti-inflammation, effects on vessel walls). 8. Cereals, fruit and vegetables (soluble and insoluble fibre, glucans, fructans, pectins, arabinoxylans, cell wall structures; gut health and immunity, cholesterol and fat biokinetics). 9. Legumes and grain (isoflavonoids, lignans; hormone mimetic effects). 10. Spices and bioactive compounds in relation to energy balance/expenditure (ginger, parsley, dill, chives, thyme, rosemary; terpenes, gingerol, furocoumarins). 11. Beverages (coffee, tea, cocoa, cola; caffeine, theobromine, cocaine, kahweol, cafestrol). 12. Dairy products (SCFA, peptides, gangliosides, Ca-species). 13. Organic and conventional products (differences and similarities in contents; background for evaluation of differences in health effects). 14. Plant bioactives in innovation. | |||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||
| Maj-Britt Schmidt Andersen, mbsa@life.ku.dk, Department of Human Nutrition/Preventive Nutrition, Phone: 291-76809 Lars Ove Dragsted, ldra@life.ku.dk, Department of Human Nutrition/Preventive Nutrition, Phone: 353-32694 | |||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||
| Study Committee LSN | |||||||||||||
| Work Load | |||||||||||||
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