Montpellier Scientific Community



Security and quality of plant products (SQPOV)

Director: Christophe NGuyen The nguyenth@avignon.inra.fr
Research area
The JRU's research into the Safety and Quality of Plant-based Products (SPQV) concerns the processing of fruits and vegetables, or other plant products that are sources of valuable micro-constituents. The mastery of food processing techniques, of modelling of chemical reactions in digestion and of bacterial risk throughout the food chain are designed to optimize the sensory and nutritional quality of foods and food safety. The unit is committed to an environment- friendly, integrated design approach for new processes and new foods.
Research highlights
Fruit quality and processing
  • Development of instrumental methods to study the physical properties (texture, image analysis) of fruit and vegetables.
  • Use of infra-red spectroscopy for non destructive characterization fruit quality.
  • Role of molecular interactions and tissue de-structuration in the extraction and availability of polyphenols and micronutrients during processing of fruits.
Procédés d'extraction
  • Development of new extraction methods for plant micro-constituents without the use of organic solvents.
Chemistry of anti-oxidant
  • Anti-oxidant properties of polyphenols, carotenoids and their metabolites. Mode of action in interaction with lipids, proteins in micelles and emulsions. Development of models mimicking gastro-intestinal conditions. Validation with in vivo models in collaboration with nutrition laboratories.
  • Production and synthesis of carotenoid and polyphenol metabolites, and their degradation products or metabolites circulating in the body. Investigation of their biological activities.
Microbiological food safety
  • Risk assessment of bacterial food-borne pathogens in minimally processed foods of plant origins.
  • Impact of the ecology and diversity of the pathogens, role of the adaptative response of the pathogen to stresses encountered in the food processing chain and in gastro-intestinal conditions.
  • Modelling of microbiological risk in the food processing chain in collaboration with statisticians
  • New more environment-friendly decontamination methods.
Staff profile
Research Org. ResearchersProfessorsResearch Eng. Techn. & admin. staffDoct.
INRA Avignon
Avignon
 University
 10 13 -
 25 16
Research teams
  • Chemistry of antioxidants
  • Eco-extraction (GREEN)
  • Microbiological safety of food
  • Fruit quality
Platforms and other tools
  • Technical platform for fruit quality analysis (chemical, physical and physiological measurements)
  • Containment laboratory for pathogenic bacteria
  • Analytical chemistry tool (HPLC-MS, GC-MS, capillary electrophoresis)
  • Eco-extraction platform
Most important international partnerships
  • University Jena, Germany
  • Norwegian School of Veterinary Sciences, Norway
  • Wageningen University, Netherland
  • Marrakech University, Morocco
  • RIPF Research Institute on Pomoloy and Floriculture, Skiernewicse, Poland Technical University of Lodz, Poland
Facts and figures
Publications in international ranking journals
2010: 38
2005 - 2009: 141
Representative publications

    Lorrain, B., O. Dangles, C. Genot and C. Dufour (2010). "Chemical Modeling of Heme-Induced Lipid Oxidation in Gastric Conditions and Inhibition by Dietary Polyphenols." Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 58(1): 676-683.

    Khan, M. K., M. Abert-Vian, A. S. Fabiano-Tixier, O. Dangles and F. Chemat (2010). "Ultrasound-assisted extraction of polyphenols (flavanone glycosides) from orange (Citrus sinensis L.) peel." Food Chemistry 119(2): 851-858.

    Khan, M. K., N. Rakotomanomana, M. Loonis and O. Dangles (2010). "Chemical synthesis of citrus flavanone glucuronides." Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 58: 8437-8443.

    Bureau, S., D. Ruiz, M. Reich, B. Gouble, D. Bertrand, J.-M. Audergon and C. M. G. C. Renard (2009). "Rapid and non-destructive analysis of apricot fruit quality using FT-near-Infrared spectroscopy." Food Chemistry 113: 1323-1328.

    Le Bourvellec, C., S. Guyot and C. M. G. C. Renard (2009). "Interactions between apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) polyphenols and cell walls modulate the extractability of polysaccharides." Carbohydrate Polymers 75(2): 251-261.

    Pandiani, F., J. Brillard, I. Bornard, C. Michaud, S. Chamot, C. Nguyen-The and V. Broussolle (2010). "The five RNA helicases are differentially involved in the cold adaptation of Bacillus cereus 6. ATCC 14579." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76(19): 6692-6697.

    Clair, G., S. Roussi, J. Armengaud and C. Duport (2010). "Expanding the Known Repertoire of Virulence Factors Produced by Bacillus cereus through Early Secretome Profiling in Three Redox Conditions." Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 9(7): 1486-1498.
      List of software and devices developed within the unit

      Databases (Unit's internal tools) for research quality assurance.

      In partnership with the Sym'Previus (ADRIA development) operational unit, database and website for the identification of isolates of Bacillus cereus by genetic group: https://www.tools.symprevius.org/Bcereus/ (described in: Guinebretiere, M.-H., P. Velge, O. Couvert, F. Carlin, M.-L. Debuyser and C. Nguyen-The (2010). "Ability of Bacillus cereus Group Strains To Cause Food Poisoning Varies According to Phylogenetic Affiliation (Groups I to VII) Rather than Species Affiliation." Journal of Clinical Microbiology 48(9): 3388-3391).
      Total annual budget
      2008 2009 2010
      Total annual budget (excluding salaries) 668 369 842 604 1 012 973
      External contracts : 
      		384 198   
      		524 918
      		737 869
      ANR 170 236 176 900 
      		214 175
      EU 127 462 173 787 181 514
      Private sector
      		57 626 95 009
      		101 870
      Others 28 874 79 222 240 310