The course consists of lectures and laboratory practice. The course will deal with food chemistry, applied biotechnology, and experimental biochemical methods used in research and in more applied settings. The theory behind the methods will be discussed in the lectures and will be illustrated in the laboratory exercises.

Writing laboratory reports is emphasised and the quality of the reports will influence the final grade given for the course. The lectures will deal with the most important topics in applied biochemistry and food chemistry (e.g. vitamins and food additives, gels, viscosity), and this will be coordinated with the courses KJM110 and KJB200.

KNOWLEDGE:

In the course's theoretical part, students will learn about the structure and function of important molecules in living cells and biological raw materials, with focus on the main components of food (carbohydrates, fats and proteins, DNA, vitamins, minerals and relevant additives). The focus is on the more applied aspects of these components and, thus, this course complements the basic course in biochemistry, KJB200. We discuss biochemical processes and analytical methods that are central to food science and biotechnology. The students will also learn about how enzymes help to assist and control biological processes. In addition to the theoretical part, the course emphasizes laboratory exercises where the student will learn about elementary biochemical techniques such as electrophoresis and chromatography and get a theoretical introduction to the principles on which these techniques are based. The course also provides some specialization in parts of KJB200, including enzyme kinetics.

SKILLS:

Students will learn how to perform a variety of laboratory techniques, including:

Pipetting small volumes

Elemental spectrophotometry

Standard curves

Measurement of protein concentration

Measurement of enzyme activity, including enzyme kinetics

Chromatography (purification) of proteins

Gel electrophoresis of proteins

Measurement of antioxidants and vitamin C

Studies of viscosity and gels.

Apart from technical skills, one learns to critically evaluate methods and own research results.

Journal writing is an important part of the course and after completing the course one should be able to report research results in a scientific manner.

GENERAL COMPETENCE

General laboratory skills - How to work in a laboratory.

Critical evaluation and professional reporting of methods and own research results.

Journal writing.

Because the work is done in groups the course gives training in doing research in teams.

Close guidance in the laboratory. Question hours.

Canvas.