Microbiology & Technology of Marine Products
In our quest to use research and innovation to benefit society, at the Institute we work to ensure food safety and quality in production systems.
This is the aim of the Microbiology & Technology of Marine Products group, also known as 'MicroTEC'. The group works to improve the quality and safety of fish and seafood products following the Farm to Fork strategy, ensuring sustainability whilst mitigating the impacts of climate change and other driving factors such as population migration and overgrowth.
Their food safety research is currently focused on the sociobiology of Listeria monocytogenes-harboring biofilms and deals with aspects related to the genetics, microscopy and ecology of these communities. Additionally, the group studies the interactions within these mixed communities, both intra- and interspecies, to contribute to the design of effective, target-specific and environmentally friendly protocols for antibiofilm sanitation.
MicroTEC also coordinates RISEGAL, the Galician Emerging Food Safety Risks Network, participating in the identification and characterization of emerging hazards in the food production chain. The network intends to anticipate food safety issues linked to climate change and build new resilient food production systems.
Lastly, within the scope of the Industry 4.0 framework, our current research on food quality aims to investigate non-invasive technologies, such as hyperspectral analysis, to assess the sensory properties and quality of fish and seafood products in an attempt to configure an intelligent and autonomous agri-food system.