Contact

Antoine Collignan
Head of Unit
CIRAD - Montpellier France
E-mail

Dominique Pallet
Deputy Head of Unit
Cirad

Sabine Galindo
Deputy Head of Unit
Université Montpellier 2

Alain Michel
Deputy Head of Unit
Faculté de pharmacie

Integrated Approach to Food Quality

Joint Research Unit (UMR) - UMR QUALISUD

Food quality in the global sense—hygiene, nutrition and taste—is a source of great concern for consumers, agrifood firms and health professionals. To fulfil their expectations, it is necessary to understand how quality develops along the production, processing and distribution chain.

The unit aims to develop an integrated system for the production and preservation of top quality foodstuffs in developing countries. Its operations centre on two complementary lines of research. The first is identifying what determines quality: characterizing metabolites of organoleptic and nutritional interest and the physical attributes of quality; determining product aromatic quality and how aroma compounds develop; and food safety. The second is ensuring better quality by controlling processes: improving fresh product shelf life; developing stabilization and processing techniques that ensure high added-value products; and controlling fermentation processes.