Research areas

• Development of new strategies for the extraction of proteins and peptides, based on nanomaterials, high intensity ultrasound and enzymes.


• Obtaining bioactive substances (polyphenols, proteins, peptides, fitoesterols) from vegetable foods and sustainable sources such as food industry waste (fruit skins and stones, among others).


• Application of proteomic techniques to the identification of proteins and peptides in food and food industry waste.


• Development of non-targeted metabolomic strategies for the comprehensive characterization of foods and food processing, and the search for quality biomarkers with potential application in the detection of adulterations.


• Development of chiral analytical methodologies for the enantiomeric determination of compounds of interest in the food field (protein and non-protein amino acids, sweeteners) and contaminants in food (agrochemicals, among others).


• Development of analytical methodologies for the determination of amino acids, peptides and proteins as markers of food quality and safety.


• Study of chemical modifications and interactions among food constituents during food processing; particularly for new compounds generated in Maillard and lipid oxidation reactions having a direct impact in food quality, safety and bioactivity.


• Study of the beneficial/pernicious properties for the consumers of the compounds formed in the food cooking/processing in a risk/benefit model.


• Development of new analytical methodologies for the determination of Maillard and lipid oxidation products.


• Analysis, presence, mitigation and exposure to chemical contaminants of food processing.


• Study of the antiglicant capacity of compounds from food by-products.


• Development, characterization and validation of innovative analytical methodologies for the determination of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) includingpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and organochlorinated insecticides (DTTs), and agricultural pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), as well as other emergent contaminants (phthalates, parabens, biphenyl A, other brominated and phosphorous flame retardants, among others) in food, food supplements and food packaging.


• Massive and non-targeted screening for new contaminants breakthrough.


• Development of methods allowing the detection of adulterations and the research of markers enabling to guaranty food authenticity.


• Development and implementation of new methodologies, from the use of extraction techniques, such as pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) or microwave assisted extraction (MAE), to the use of chemometric techniques for their optimization, and the development of chromatographic analysis methodologies (coupled to MS, in general) for the characterization of complex extracts.


• Isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds obtained from natural sources and surpluses of food industry.


• The use of ionic liquids for the fractionation and selective isolation of carbohydrates with prebiotic properties.


• Analytical methodologies for the speciation of trace elements and nanoparticles analysis in biological, food and environmental samples.


• Analytical methodologies for the determination of legislated (PAHs, metals) and emerging (drugs) contaminants. Miniaturized sample treatments.


• Quantitative proteomic and bioaccumulation studies to establish the toxicity of trace elements, species, nanoparticles and emerging contaminants.


• Analytical methodologies for obtaining bioactive compounds from agro-food waste.


• Application of nanomaterials to the development of active packaging and food biolayers treatment.


• Development and application of bioanalytical strategies for the identification and quantitation of proteins, metabolites and nucleic acids: application in the biomedical and environmental areas.


• Design, synthesis, characterization and application of nano-systems with biomedical potential.


• Treatment of samples for the determination of organic compounds by chromatographic methods (HPLC, GC).


• Development of luminescent sensors using molecular impression polymers.


• Synthesis and characterization of molecular impression polymers. Analytical applications.


• Identification of authenticity markers in food products (atomic and chromatographic techniques).


• Preparation, functionalization and characterization of nano-structured materials with application both in sample preparation by solid phase extraction (PSE) and matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) and in the analysis (stationary phases for HPLC and CE and electro-chemical sensors).


• Development and validation of analytical methods for chiral separation with applications in fine chemistry, pharmaceutical analysis and environmental analysis by HPLC-TQ-MS/MS, UHPLC-TI-MS/MS y CE-DAD.


• Development and validation of analytical methods for the separation of emerging contaminants in water and food by HPLC-TQ-MS/MS, UHPLC-TI-MS/MS y CE-DAD.


• Design of synthesis to obtain organic or inorganic compounds by different types and size of reactors.


• Obtaining proteins and enzymes from recombinant microorganisms in bioreactors.


• Obtaining new materials such as polymers and bitumen.


• Recovery processes of biomass and plastic waste for obtaining raw materials or renewable biofuels.


• Development of new analytical methods for the elucidation of trace impurities, analysis of drugs in body fluids and adulteration studies in food, mainly spices.