- Food products sensory quality optimization
Sensory perception of food related to food processing techniques
Shelf-life studies
Relationship between sensory and instrumental measurements
Use of traditional and innovative descriptive and hedonic methods (QDA, CATA, Time intensity, Projective mapping, Napping…)
Optimization of food formulations for specific consumer targets (celiac subjects,elderly people,children…)
- Perceptive and behavioral determinants of obesity
Evalutation of taste sensitivity in normal weight (NW), overweight (OW) and obese people (OB)
Behavioral determinants (e.g. personal traits) of choice in OW/OB people
Impact of OW/OB people impaired/distorted perception on food preference and choice
Study multisensory interactions in obese and normal weight subjects (odor-taste-texture)
- Influence of memory on food choice
Study of the mechanisms involved in food learning and memorisation
Study of food memory evolution from childhood to old age
Investigation of the relationship between food memory and liking
- Sensory perception and eating behavior in childhood
Sensory and behavioural barriers to healthy eating in childhood
Development of school-based strategies to encourage healthy eating in children
Development of appropriate methodological approaches for sensory and consumer testing with children
- Food perception, liking and memory
Implicit paradigms to study incidental learning of food properties
Impact of food memory on food preference and choice
Food memory performance over the lifespan
- Food sustainability: sensory perception and consumer attitudes
Consumer’s attitude towards traditional and organically produced food products
Circular re-use of bio-resources for the development of new food formulations
Consumer’s attitude towards insects as feed and food
- Cross-cultural studies (main projects)
Studies of Umami Perception and Investigation of Taste Active Compounds in Korean and Italian Food (Joint project funded from Ministero Italiano degli Affari Esteri (MAE) and Korean Ministry for Science and Technology (MOST) for the exchange of researchers within the executive programme Italy-Korea, 2007-09)
Bioactive compounds for the enhancement and promotion of traditional food (Joint project funded from Ministero Italiano degli Affari Esteri (MAE) and Korean Ministry for Science and Technology (MOST) for the exchange of researchers within the executive programme Italy-Korea, 2010-13)
Individual differences in food texture perception and preferences: a cross-national study in school-aged children (Project of the European Sensory Science Society (E3S), 2015-present http://www.e3sensory.eu/children/)