The CREA Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics) is a public research organization, under the aegis of the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. CREA is the main Italian Public Research Institution entirely dedicated to the agro-food sector.

The Council takes on, with a multidisciplinary approach, the great challenges of this century regarding the agricultural, forestry and fisheries productive systems.

The production of healthy and safe food meeting the nutritional needs of a growing world population and the utilization of biomass and wastes to produce energy and materials in a sustainable way are among  CREA’s missions.

The Centro di ricerca Alimenti e Nutrizione (Research Centre for Food and Nutrition) is one of the 12 research Centres of CREA. The Centre carries out basic and applied research in Food Science, Nutrition Science, and Applied Food Science. The three Research Departments have competencies in food chemistry, food technology, human nutrition, national dietary surveys, nutritional database design, sensory analysis, nutrition education interventions.

The Centre issues and updates the Italian Food Composition Tables and the Dietary Guidelines for Italians.

The research group “Food Science and Nutraceutics” proposing this project has a consolidated research experience on the quality of traditional and novel food products of animal and plant origin. Research projects on nutritional quality biomarkers of food from different value chains, valorisation of traditional and local products finalized to the obtainment of quality labels and organic certification. Studies on the impact of different rearing/cultivation methods, post-harvest treatments and processing techniques on the quality  and shelf-life of products . Studies on phytochemicals and bioactive molecules with beneficial health properties, on sustainable sources of nutrients and bioactive molecules and on the nutraceutical properties of novel food. Studies on the nutritional adequacy of the Total Diet: assessment of the daily intake levels of nutrients and bioactive substances.