ERASMUS+ INTERNSHIP AT THE CZECH UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES PRAGUE

Erasmus+ Internship at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Through the Erasmus+ programme, I participated in a three-week research visit at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, our partner institution in the INPROFF project (Quality, Safety and Authenticity of INsect PROtein-Based Food and Feed). I worked in the Departments of Microbiology and Zoology & Fisheries under the supervision of Prof. Lenka Kouřimská.

I visited the insectarium where edible insects are bred, explored other laboratories, and observed analyses of total nitrogen, total lipids, and vitamin C in tomatoes. I also toured the university’s Food Production Training Centre, where sensory analyses, bread and pastry baking, meat and dairy processing, oil and chips production, fruit lyophilization, beer brewing, and product sales are carried out. Together with the project partners, we finalized a scientific article titled Nutritional Composition of Farmed Insects: Impact of Species, Developmental Stage, and Sex.

During my stay, I also attended the international conference RAFA 2024, which hosted 710 participants from around the world. The event brought together leading experts in analytical chemistry, food safety, metabolomics, volatilomics, food authenticity, chemometrics, data processing, and artificial intelligence in food science. I presented my research titled Unlocking Tomato Quality Attributes Irrigated with Treated Wastewater Using Machine Learning.

Of course, I also took the opportunity to explore the beautiful, autumn-colored Prague and its culinary delights together with my colleague Dr. Petra Škvorová. Both the visit to CZU and the conference were valuable contributions to my PhD research and to strengthening collaboration among the project partners.

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Anja Vehar, Ecotechnologies

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