VITAMINS AND ANTIOXIDANTS IN DIET
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- JUANA MARIA SANZ MOLINA
- Credits
- 2
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- MED/09
Training objectives
- The aim of the course is to integrate the knowledge on nutritional/physiological role of foods and their preventive/protective role on health and the development of diseases; in particular, the objective is to gain expertise on the role of essential and non-essential nutrients, vitamin and antioxidants, respectively, in human physiology and pathology.
Prerequisites
- Knowledge is required on chemistry, biochemistry, clinical biochemistry, clinical molecular biology and anatomy
Course programme
- The coursework aims to expand on the educational goals of the course creating knowledge on:
-Vitamins: definition, classification.
-Vitamins: dietary sources, bioavailability and biological role in the human body.
-Water-soluble vitamins in physiology and pathology.
-Fat-soluble vitamins in physiology and pathology.
-Main clinical aspects of hypovitaminosis.
- Oxidative stress and antioxidants.
-Free radicals: definition, synthesis, mechanism of action, damage caused in the human body.
-Endogenous antioxidants.
-Exogenous antioxidants.
-Nitrates and nitrites in foods: role of cooking.
-Synergistic actions of micro nutrients (vitamins and antioxidants) on human health.
-How to design new antioxidant systems. Didactic methods
- Lectures.
Learning assessment procedures
- The learning assessment will take into account a final written exam and an exposition, to be carried out during the course.
The written exam consists of an average of 25 multiple choice questions on the topics covered in the course program. There are no penalties in case of wrong answer. The maximum exam score is 25 points. The exam will be carried out in the presence, where the epidemiological conditions related to the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection allow it.
Students can obtain 6 additional points with an exposure lasting a maximum of 10 minutes, regarding a topic of interest to the student, which is relevant to the subject of study.
The final judgment will be the sum of the score obtained in the written exam and the 6 points of the presentation. The maximum score will be 30 cum laude (31 points). A minimum score of 18 points is required to pass the course. Reference texts
- Arienti G. (2011), Le basi molecolari della nutrizione, III edizione, Ed. Piccin, Padova, Italia.
Cappelli P. & Vannucchi V., (2011), Chimica degli Alimenti, III edizione, Zanichelli, Bologna, Italia.
Valgimigli L. & Pratt D.A. (2012), Antioxidants in Chemistry and Biology. In: Encyclopedia of Radicals in Chemistry, Biology and Materials, Wiley.
Lecture notes.
Slides of the lessons are provided in copies to the students and supplementary and research material on the classroom platform.
