Wageningen University and Research Center

This course introduces the student to both theory and practical application of chromatographic analyses and separation techniques. It also covers the basic isolation techniques for components of various chemical classes. Attention is given to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of, e.g., preservatives, drugs, sugars, and pollutants using a variety of techniques (e.g., TLC, HPLC, GC, capillary electrophoresis (CE) and ELISA). Students are introduced to the theory and practical applications of spectroscopic methods aiming towards the structural analysis of organic compounds, including proteins. The combination of UV/VIS, IR & NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS) is discussed and used. During the practical work these methods are applied towards the elucidation of the structure of unknown compounds. Special emphasis is also given to the application of GC-MS and LC-MS including theory, scope, and limitations, and practical usage in the analysis of food contaminants.

This course studies the fields of wildlife management and conservation biology using a problem-based learning approach. Students use quantitative exercises and literature review assignments to explore problems spanning a wide range of conservation issues including genetic analysis, population biology, the public policy process, and ecosystem and landscape management. Students then discuss how the results of the exercises and assignments can be viewed from a broader ecological and socio-economic perspective. Students work in groups on case studies which comprise a detailed analysis of complex problems related to wildlife management. Topics are related to human and wildlife interactions and frequently address how wildlife can be best conserved. Students are able to outline and interpret the theoretical framework underlying wildlife management issues, analyze complex wildlife management problems using scientific literature and societal context, and present the results in a clear manner for both managers and policy makers.

This course is an introduction to the chemistry of foods, specifically the chemistry of groups of compounds present in food: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, phenolic compounds, and enzymes. Students learn about the chemical changes that take place during storage and processing of agricultural crops and food. In addition, during the laboratory classes, students learn about the design of experiments and the analysis of the composition of food products. Food technologists should be able to estimate the relevance of various chemical and enzymatic processes by making calculations. To gain experience with this part of food chemistry, students practice the quantification of specific reactions in calculation cases. After successful completion of this course, students are able to recognize the molecular structures of the most common food components and their reaction products; recognize and understand the generic functional and chemical properties of the most common food components; understand the chemical reactions occurring during food processing; understand how reactive groups of food components play an important role in chemical reactions; describe the influence of processing conditions on chemical reaction and on the properties of food components; describe the effect of chemical reactions on the characteristics of food in a qualitative sense; apply generic mathematical concepts on experimental data to make quantitative judgments of the effect of reactions on the quality of food; choose between the most common analytical methods and techniques to analyze specific food compounds; and conduct experiments to analyze the effect of processing on food compounds and be able to interpret and report on the results of these experiments.