The CBQF/LAE Research Seminar "Functional Insects: The Sustainable Future of Bioactive Ingredients" with Luana Cristina dos Santos researcher at the Institute of Food Science Research (CIAL – CSIC), Madrid, Spain, will take place on May 23, at 11:00 am, in classroom EBI009, in the Biotechnology Building.

Presentation Summary
This talk will highlight the potential of sustainable and emerging extraction technologies for obtaining nutritionally enriched ingredients from edible insects - a promising alternative for more sustainable food systems. The focus will be on evaluating insects as sources of functional ingredients, optimizing green extraction techniques for the recovery of bioactive compounds, and chemically and functionally characterizing these compounds. In addition, the health benefits will be explored through bioactivity analyses. The insights generated will contribute significantly to the development of sustainable and functional ingredients for future feed and food.

Short Biographical Note
Luana dos Santos has an academic background in Food Engineering. She was a research fellow during her undergraduate studies at the University of São Paulo, participating in projects funded by FAPESP and the Science Without Borders program at the University of Illinois (UIUC), United States. She earned her master's degree in Chemical Engineering at the Federal University of São Carlos and completed her Ph.D. at the University of Campinas, focusing on the sustainable extraction of bioactive compounds from food byproducts. She has also conducted research at the CIAL-CSIC Institute, specializing in chemical characterization. Dr. dos Santos has published 17 scientific articles, supervised students, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher under the Juan de la Cierva Spanish Fellowship in the CIAL-CSIC (Madrid, Spain).