The Bionutest group at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences has organised, as part of the European MEDIET4ALL project, the workshop ‘Antioxidants in action: From tradition to innovation’ aimed at students enrolled in the advanced vocational training programme in Dietetics and Nutrition.
On Thursday 18 December, the Bionutest group (https://www.uv.es/bionutest/), represented by professors Amparo Alegría, Guadalupe García, Antonio Cilla, Amparo Gamero and Mónica Gandía, organised an inspiring workshop with students from the course in Dietetics and Nutrition at the Mediterranean Culinary Centre in Valencia. The workshop focused on one of the key challenges addressed by the European MEDIET4ALL Project (https://mediet4all.eu/), part of the PRIMA-Horizon 2020 call for proposals: improving the nutritional value and antioxidant capacity of traditional recipes without losing their essence.
Together with pre-doctoral student Marta Cuenca-Ortolá and TFG student Ainhoa Piera, the students explored how to ‘modernise’ classic Mediterranean dishes by integrating fermented ingredients and applying improved culinary techniques to preserve and increase bioactive antioxidant compounds.
The highlight of the session was a tasting of two classic traditional dishes that had been reinvented to improve their antioxidant potential:
- Spanish omelette (potato and onion omelette).
- Tiramisu.
After the tasting, the students carried out a sensory analysis of the products, answering a survey and evaluating their tasting experience.
They also took part in a competition to determine who knew the most about the concepts presented, and prizes were awarded to the winners.
It was a fantastic day of learning, tasting and discussing the future of food and the Mediterranean diet. We are proud to see the future professionals leading the way in combining evidence-based nutrition with culinary heritage!
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