Societal significance
In the Czech Republic alone, approximately 30 million meals are consumed every day. Today, we take it for granted that these foods are safe and plentiful. However, without research, development, and the training of experts, in which our department is also involved, this situation would not be achievable or sustainable. The sustainability of agriculture and food production is also one of the greatest challenges of the near future, and our department wants to contribute to solving it, whether through educating students, disseminating information to the general public, or conducting our own research. Specifically, our research projects focus on reducing food waste using natural substances, developing bee probiotics using by-products, and developing new dairy products and methods for detecting milk adulteration. In general, the Department of Food Quality and Safety (DFQS) focuses on the quality of primary production of agricultural raw materials, their processing, and analytical evaluation of food. This logical link between the production of primary raw materials and the food sector offers graduates of the program a wide range of opportunities in agriculture, food production and sales, as well as in control, legislative, and testing institutions.
Scientific research
The scientific research activities of DFQS cover a range of areas related to agri-food issues. The cereal laboratory focuses on determining rheological parameters and evaluating the quality of cereals with regard to their baking properties. In the field of natural substances, research focuses on evaluating biological activities and their subsequent use in various applications, e.g., as food supplements, natural preservatives, cosmetic products with healing effects, etc. In terms of animal products, the department is equipped for routine and special analyses of milk and dairy products, including goat's, sheep, and buffalo milk, and also evaluates the quality of meat and meat products. For analytical evaluation, DFQS has, among other things, GC-FID, GC-MS, HPLC-UV/VIS, MilkoScan, HPLC-QTOF, HPLC-timsTOF, NMR, and MALDI-TOF instruments, as well as a robotic system for sample processing. The output of the department's scientific research activities includes both purely scientific knowledge and applied results leading to innovations in the food industry and related fields.
Teaching activities
DFQS teaches students in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral study programs in the following areas: quality and processing of plant products, quality and processing of animal products, quality and processing of milk and dairy products, post-harvest treatment, preservation, storage and packaging of food, safety, quality, legislation and certification of food, biologically active substances.
It also actively cooperates with universities, research institutes and institutions with a similar focus, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. In the area of international cooperation, DFQS collaborates with a number of European and non-European universities (Wageningen University & Research, UVP Valencia, BOKU Wien, UHOH Hohenheim, University of Glasgow, and others). As part of these activities, it organizes a regular summer school for students focused on food quality and safety.
