The Instituto del Frío (IF) was founded in 1951, with the name of Centro Experimental del Frío to respond to the needs of research in different sectors of the Spanish refrigeration industry. In 1977, it changed its name to the one which it is having at the present. But gradually, within the last three decades, it extended its field of research to Science and Food Technology which is one of the domains of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), to which actually it belongs. The scientific structure of the Instituto del Frío, approved at the meeting of the governor of CSIC in February 1994, has a mixed-character for the fact that some departments are based on horizontal disciplines and the others on vertical according to products or sectors. The research that it is realized has an applied-basic orientation and counts on a public
finance from the European Union, the National Plan for Food Technology and the Madrid Autonomous Community; as well as on a private
finance from industrial contracts and technological support schemes. The scientific productivity is diffused in form of specialized publication in magazines and bulletins. And the most applied character of the research has materialized in patents which are available or in exploitation. The Instituto del Frío also takes active part in the formation of staff by supervising doctoral thesis, lecturing and supervising university courses of the third cycle, organizing formation courses and involving researchers in external courses. Instituto del Frío has different departments of study and research which are as follows: • Department of Engineering  Food technology  Refrigeration Technology ï¶ Department of Science and Technology of Plant Foods  Technology and engineering in the preservation and processing of plant foods  Biochemistry and
physiology of horticultural products  Quality characterization of fresh and frozen plant foods and its modifications  Cold preservation of plant products and molecular
biology ï¶ Department of Science and Technology of Meat and Meat Products and Fish and Fishery Products  Treatment and conservation of meat and meat products  Evaluation and development of more healthy meat products  Treatment and conservation of fishery products  Evaluation of fishery products and development of
functional foods ï¶ Department of Science and Technology of
Dairy Products  Development of technologies to increase sensorial, nutritional and functional characteristics of dairy products.  Application of analytical techniques to study quality related dairy product components  Biotechnology of lactic acid bacteria. Design of starters and pro-biotic cultures. ï¶ Department of Metabolism and
Nutrition  Carbohydrates on
nutrition and health. Dietetic fiber, resistant starch and oligosaccharides. Physiological and nutritional effects. Colonic fermentation. Bio-availability.  Bioactive compounds in vegetable cellular wall. Polyphenols. Bio-availability and antioxidant capability  Development of new food components and functional foods. There are approximately 300 staffs employed with the institute. In year 2008 it has got almost 5 research project contract. Since its inception it has got almost 18 patents in various research fields. It has got the rank of 118 in terms of size amongst the universities in Spain and 121 ranks amongst all the universities in Spain itself. The top researches of the university are as followed by the year: In 2008 it got the research project on “Development of Biodegradable Films as Active Packaging from Fish Processing Industry Waste” which was financed by Plan Nacional de I+D+I and its principal researcher was Dra. Miriam Pérez-Mateos. In 2007 it has got various research project which was funded by different organization such as: Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS), MEC, CSIC, UE (Acción Concertada).
Last Updated on: Nov 25, 2024