Year 2, Term 3

Credits: 6

Hours: 75

lectures: 35
laboratory exercises: 40

Syllabus:

• Microbial associations in food and their roles in food quality and stability assurance, microbiological specifications and criterions, the role of predictable microbiology.
• Microbiology of animal and plant foods: meat and meat products, eggs and eggs products, fish and fish products, milk and dairy products, honey, cereals and products, fruits, vegetables and products, spices; microbiology of ready-to eat foods, confectionary and delicatessen products, drinking water.
• Principles and methodology of analytical work in microbiological laboratory: safety and quality of work assurance, methods for sampling foods and environmental samples, techniques of preparing samples for microbiological analysis, phases of microbiological analysis
• Review of methodologies: microscopic, growth, biochemical, physiological and serological methods for microbial identification and quantitative microbiological analysis of food and environmental samples; physical-chemical and molecular-biological methods (impedimentry, measuring ATP-bioluminescence, immunological, molecular-genetic methods; phenotypic and genotypic methods for identification and typing of microorganisms; indicator tests and indicator groups of microorganisms
• Microbial spoil inducers. Assessment of microbiological quality and shelf-life of foods
• Food-borne infection and toxigenic microorganisms
• At laboratory exercises students perform microbiological analysis of specific groups of foods (meat and meat products, fish and fish products, milk and dairy products, honey, cereals and products, fruits, vegetables and products,  ready-to eat foods, confectionary and delicatessen products, drinking water). Students conquer techniques of detection, identification/typing and quantification of a) microbial association of food, b) indicator microorganisms, and c) tests for microbial food spoilage microorganisms and d) pathogenic microorganisms that presents risk for consumer health

Assessment:

• Performed laboratory exercises and positively assessed laboratory diary
• Passed examination from laboratory exercises
• Writing exam

Reading list:

• Mikrobiologija živil živalskega izvora. BEM, Zaviša (ur.), ADAMIČ, Jelisava (ur.), ŽLENDER, Božidar (ur.), SMOLE MOŽINA, Sonja (ur.), GAŠPERLIN, Lea (ur.).. Ljubljana: Biotehniška fakulteta, Oddelek za živilstvo, 2003. XVI, 702 str., ilustr. ISBN 961-6333-31-3. [COBISS.SI-ID 127793152]
• JERŠEK, Barbara (ur.). Praktikum mikrobiološke analize : skripta in delovni zvezek za študente IV. letnika živilstva. 2. dopolnjena in popravljena izd. Ljubljana: Biotehniška fakulteta, Oddelek za živilstvo, Katedra za živilsko mikrobiologijo, 2002. 34 str. ISBN 961-6333-16-X