Associate Professor, Department of Food Science
Arrell Chair in Food Quality
Seeking Academic or Industry Partnerships in the Areas of:
- Food shelf-life
- Sensor development
- In-line sensors
Keywords
Food quality, food safety, nanomaterials, food integrity, luminescence spectroscopy, shelf life
Education and Employment Background
Maria G. Corradini received her PhD in Food Science from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. She previously worked at Rutgers University and Universidad Argentina de la Empresa. She was an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst before joining the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph in 2018, where she is currently an associate professor and the Arrell Chair in Food Quality.
Research Themes
Prof. Corradini’s research focuses on the development of novel techniques to study foods, their biophysical behaviour, and stability. She couples these techniques with predictive tools and computational methods. The end goal of her research is to provide accurate estimations of food attributes in real-time. This will increase food quality by providing accurate estimations of the actual status of a food product, enhance food safety by reducing the occurrence and extent of outbreaks through the development of early warning systems, increase sustainability through a decrease in food waste, and enhance nutrition through the consumption of foods at their peak quality.
Her research focuses on the following major themes:
- Developing non-invasive techniques, particularly based on edible fluorophores, to report on the quality and stability of foods. For example, the identification of GRAS molecular rotors and their sensitivity to molecular crowding have contributed to monitoring changes in local viscosity and physical properties of foods nondestructively. This research provides tools to better monitor food quality and safety.
- Development of models to forecast nutrient stability and microbial quality of fresh and processed foods. The ability to develop and apply novel mathematical modelling techniques with proven predictive ability has extremely valuable applications in food quality, microbial safety, and development of novel food ingredients.
- Luminescent approaches to explore conformational changes, formation of delivery systems and matrix-bioactive interactions. Expanding the set of tools available to explore food microstructure and component interactions can contribute to the design of foods with increased functionality.
- Examining the remaining shelf life of food products in real-time. The strategies that Prof. Corradini has recently advanced to transition from open-label to real-time shelf life monitoring will enable a reduction in food waste and an increase in food quality and safety.
Highlights
- Received funding from NSERC, including an accelerator supplement, to advance research on optical tools for food quality (2019-2023)
- Received funding from USDA/NIFA/AFRI to develop pedagogical material to increase participation of women and minorities in STEM (2020-2023)
- Received ArgenInta Award in recognition of outstanding applied research in Food Quality and Safety (2011)
- Received Fulbright and Monica Mourier de Archibald scholarship to conduct graduate studies in Food Science (1998-2001)
- Associate Editor for the journal, Current Research in Food Science and Member on editorial board for the Journal of Food Science, Food Biophysics and Food Engineering Reviews and
Media Coverage
Dr. Maria G. Corradini joins the University of Guelph as an Arrell Food Chair in Food Quality
OAC News: Food Science welcomes new food quality prof
Education News Canada: New Arrell Food Chairs Appointed at U of G
U of G News: New Arrell Food Chairs Appointed at U of G
Prof. Corradini Discusses Food Waste
U of G News: U of G Food Sustainability Experts Discuss Food Waste in The Hill Times
U of G News: Prof Talks to Discover Magazine
Discover Magazine: New Tech to Predict When Food Spoils Could Slash Waste
Contact
mcorradi@uoguelph.ca
(519) 824-4120 ext. 53344
Food Science Building Rm. 225