The CEBAS Research Institute is part of the National Spanish Research Agency, CSIC. It is located in the Region of Murcia and its main objective is to contribute to generating the knowledge and strategies to accomplish the sustainability of the resources existing in a semiarid environment of fragile resources (such as the specific case of the Region of Murcia), to develop agriculture of quality, and to produce safe and healthy plant foods. This research is conducted under the common frame of the CEBAS Institute by three main scientific-technical areas: Natural Resources, Agricultural Sciences, and Food Science & Technology. In the Department of Food Science & Technology the Group on Quality, Safety, and Bioactivity of Plant Foods is devoted to enhancing our knowledge on healthy plant foods with a special focus on their bioactive constituents, their metabolic fate (bioavailability) and their bioactivity in relationship with health maintenance and (or) disease prevention, with a focus on obesity, cardio-metabolic and inflammatory related disorders.
Project Partners
CENTRO DE EDAFOLOGIA Y BIOLOGÍA APLICADA DEL SEGURA (CEBAS-CSIC) (Murcia, Spain)
There are several research lines within the group that covers:
- The study and full characterization of the bioactive components present in plant foods and derived products as well as of their metabolic derivatives (both human and microbial metabolites) and bioavailability by means of state-of-the-art chromatographic and mass spectrometry technology.
- The bioactivity and health benefits of a range of plant products and bioactive components. For this research, we have implemented a combination of pre-clinical models and human intervention trials as well as specific biochemical and clinical analyses and the application of omics technologies (transcriptomics and metabolomics).
- In the past few years, the study of the colon microbiota and its role and influence on the metabolism of bioactive compounds as well as on disease prevention has also become a major research objective of the group.
Short Bio
BSc in Biological Sciences (University of Murcia, Spain, 1985), R+D Leader in the Quality Control Department of the Food Industry (HERO Spain, SA, 1988-1991), MSc in Food Science & Technology (Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain,1993) and PhD in Biology (University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, 2000). Research career in the areas of Biotechnology and Food Technology with a focus on Plant Bioactive Compounds, developed in several laboratories in Europe and USA: TNO (Zeist, The Netherlands, 1993), IFR (Norwich, UK, 1994-2002), University of Madison (Wisconsin, USA, 1997). Since 2003, working as a senior scientist at CEBAS-CSIC, in the Research Group of Quality, Safety and Bioactivity of Plant Foods.
Google scholar: https://scholar.google.es/citations?hl=es&user=D4k1BmQAAAAJ&view_op=list_works
Open Researcher and Contributor ID: N-4032-2014
ORCID: 0000-0002-4125-853X
BSc in Biological Sciences (University of Murcia, Spain, 1985), R+D Leader in the Quality Control Department of the Food Industry (HERO Spain, SA, 1988-1991), MSc in Food Science & Technology (Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain,1993) and PhD in Biology (University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, 2000). Research career in the areas of Biotechnology and Food Technology with a focus on Plant Bioactive Compounds, developed in several laboratories in Europe and USA: TNO (Zeist, The Netherlands, 1993), IFR (Norwich, UK, 1994-2002), University of Madison (Wisconsin, USA, 1997). Since 2003, working as a senior scientist at CEBAS-CSIC, in the Research Group of Quality, Safety and Bioactivity of Plant Foods.
Google scholar: https://scholar.google.es/citations?hl=es&user=D4k1BmQAAAAJ&view_op=list_works
Open Researcher and Contributor ID: N-4032-2014
ORCID: 0000-0002-4125-853X
Key words: Bioactive compounds; Health benefits (Inflamation, Obesity, Cardiovascular diseases, Cancer); Metabolism; Molecular regulation (gene expression); Cell, Animal and Human studies; Mediterranean diet; Interindividual variability.
I am Chemical Engineer and developed my PhD studies in the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Granada (2006-2010). I demonstrated the potential of different analytical platforms for the characterization of compounds of interest in different food matrices, mainly phenolic compounds in olive oil samples. After my PhD I started my postdoc at the Food Science and Technology Department of CEBAS-CSIC in Murcia. My main research line deals with polyphenols and health, specifically in optimizing advanced analytical methods for secondary metabolites, mainly polyphenols, in plant extracts and biological samples, studying their metabolism, bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, and interactions with the gut microbiota. I have been involved in research projects where important advances have been made related to the bioavailability and metabolism of ellagitannins and their active microbial metabolites, urolithins. I have also collaborated with international research teams and private companies to know more about the physiological concentrations and metabolic state of other families of polyphenols. I have worked on the interindividual variability in response to consumption of plant food bioactives through the participation on a European Positive COST Action. I was principal investigator of a JIN project (2017-2020) more focused on the gut microbiota metabolism and I am interested in continuing to delve into the gut microbial metabolome, its interaction with polyphenols and the gut microbiota-brain axis.
