The University of Pisa (UNIPI), founded in 1343, is one of the most renewed educational institutions in Italy boasting 20 departments, with high level research centres in the sectors of agriculture, physics, computer science, engineering, medicine and veterinary medicine. Thanks to the quality of research undertaken by its academic staff, UNIPI holds a prominent position in the national and international scientific context. In recent international rankings, UNIPI ranks 9th among the Italian Universities and 389th among the World Universities (QS World University Rankings 2020). UNIPI has been involved in 126 H2020 projects, representing an EU contribution of about 42.5 Million Euros. In FEDKITO, UNIPI is represented by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (DAFE) thatincludes more than 70 academics who are experts in many scientific disciplines relates to agriculture, food production and environment management. In particular, it has a strong commitment to sustainable agro-food production and a deep knowledge in the control of fungi and insects infesting food stuffs.
Team members involved in the project
Barbara Conti (female, project coordinator). MSc in Agricultural Sciences. She is Associate Professor at DAFE with expertise in bioactivity of natural substances against insects of medical and agricultural interest and against food-stuff pests and integrated pest management strategies for the control of pests. She has been project coordinator/team leader in several regional, national, European and international projects. She is reviewer for more than 30 ISI and non-ISI scientific journals and she is author of 142 papers, 44 published on international peer-reviewed journals with a total h-index of 20 (Scopus).Stefano Bedini (male). PhD in Environmental Sciences. He is Technician at DAFE with expertise in bioactivity of natural substances against insects of medical and agricultural interest and against food-stuff pests and integrated pest management strategies for the control of pests. He is author of about 50 papers, 34 published on international peer-reviewed journals with a total 974 citations, h-index 19 (Scopus).
Francesca Venturi (female). She is Researcher in food technology at DAFE with particular expertise in sensory analysis of food. She is author of more than 120 papers including 49 published on international peer-reviewed journals, with a total h-index of 13 (Scopus).
Angela Zinnai (female). She is Associate Professor in food technology at DAFE with particular expertise in food quality and shelf-life assessment. She is author of more than 150 papers including 55 published on international peer-reviewed journals, with a total h-index of 15 (Scopus).
Elisa Pellegrini (female). She is Associate Professor in Plant Pathology at DAFE with expertise in the interactions amongst plants, insects and air pollutants (metabolic, physiological and molecular implications of their presence in agricultural and forest ecosystems and monitoring of air pollutants with plants). She is author of 58 papers, published on international peer-reviewed journals with a total h-index of 14 (Scopus).
Sabrina Sarrocco (female). PhD in Science of plant production. She is Technician at the Plant Pathology & Mycology Lab of DAFE. She is expert in applied mycology with special interest for beneficial fungi for plant protection, mycotoxigenic fungi, fungal ecology and biotechnology. She is author of about 70 papers (40 ISI and 30 non ISI) and 4 book chapters with a total h-index of 13 (Scopus).
Anna Maria Ranieri (female). She is Full Professor at DAFE and she is an expert of plant metabolism. She is author of 112 papers, published on international peer-reviewed journals with a total h-index of 27 (Scopus).
Antonella Castagna (female). She is Associate Professor at DAFE, with expertise in plant metabolism and food quality assessment. She is author of 71 papers, published on international peer-reviewed journals with a total h-index of 23 (Scopus).
Fabio Bartolini (male). He is Associate Professor at DAFE with expertise in agricultural economy and food policy. He is author of 41 papers, published on international peer-reviewed journals with a total h-index of 12 (Scopus).
Publications and/or products, services related to the project
Bedini S., Flamini G., Ascrizzi R., Venturi F., Ferroni G., Bader A., Girardi J., Conti B. (2018) Essential oils sensory quality their bioactivity against the mosquito Aedes albopictus Scientific Reports 8:17857 DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-36158-w
Bedini S., Flamini G., Cosci F., Ascrizzi R., Echeverria M.C., Guidi L., Landi M., Lucchi A., Conti B. (2017) Artemisia spp. essential oils against the disease-carrying blowfly Calliphora vomitoria Parasites & Vectors 10:80 DOI 10.1186/s13071-017-2006-y
Bedini S., Flamini G., Cosci F., Ascrizzi R., Echeverria M.C., Gomez, E.V., Guidi L., Landi M., Lucchi A., Conti B. (2019) Toxicity and oviposition deterrence of essential oils of Clinopodium nubigenum and Lavandula angustifolia against the myiasis inducing blowfly Lucilia sericata. PLoS ONE 14 (2): e0212576
Pagno C.H., Castagna A., Trivellini A., Mensuali-Sodi A., Ranieri A., Ferreira E., De Oliveira Rios A., Hickmann Flores S., (2017) The nutraceutical quality of tomato fruit during domestic storage is affected by chitosan coating J. Food Process Preserv. DOI.ORG/10.1111/JFPP.13326
Gava, O., Bartolini, F., Venturi, F., Brunori, G., Zinnai, A., Pardossi, A. (2019). A reflection of the use of the life cycle assessment tool for agri-food sustainability. Sustainability, 11(1): 71.
Description of infrastructure and/or technical equipment relevant to the proposal work
- Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy
- Five Climatic Chambers and cages for insects’ mass rearing
- Refrigerators, freezers and cold room
- Burkard micro-applicator
- Greenhouse 30 x10m and growth room light
- Fully equipped mycological/microbiological laboratory and Mycotheca
- Fully equipped molecular biology laboratory
- Microscopes and Stereoscopes also equipped for fluorescence examination and macro recording camera
- HPLC–DAD and UV
- Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer
- Ionic chromatography
- Gas chromatography and GC/MS
- Panel for Sensory analysis with expertise in sensory evaluations of Foods
- Statistical program Big Sensory Data specifically developed for Sensory analysis
- Colorimeter EOPTIS CLM-196.
