University consulting services

Consulting Offer of the Interdisciplinary Research Platform of USV Timișoara

The Interdisciplinary Research Platform of USV Timișoara, through the Physical-Chemical and Microbiology analysis laboratories, provides the possibility of performing the necessary analyses for experimental development and research activities in the following fields:

• Physical-chemical analysis of raw materials of plant/animal origin and food products: determination of proteins by the Kjeldahl method, lipids by automated Soxhlet method, total mineral substances after sample calcination, dry matter by drying in a drying oven, chlorides, acidity, and sugars by titration, potentiometric pH, nutritional value (calculated by determining moisture, total mineral substances, proteins, lipids with or without fatty acids, chlorides, carbohydrates, sugars, energy value, and reference consumption), physical-chemical indices, weight indices, etc. Examples of analyzed matrices are forages, feed, plant material, animal products (raw meat, meat preparations, milk and dairy products), baked goods;
• Determination of contaminants in raw materials of plant/animal origin and food products: mycotoxins (DON, ZEA, AFLA) from agricultural products (grains, flours, feed) using ELISA kits, nitrogen compounds (nitrates, nitrites, ammonium) from water, animal products, heavy metals from alcoholic beverages, plant matrices, forages, feed, water or soil by AAS spectrometry;
• Determination of fatty acid profiles, including cis/trans forms from plant/animal matrices and food products such as forages, feed, meal, animal products (raw meat and meat preparations, milk and dairy products), baked goods through lipid extraction, derivatization, and GC-MS analysis;
• Extraction by hydrodistillation or steam distillation of volatile oils from plant matrices and determination of their chemical composition by GC-MS, or determination of the chemical composition of commercial essential oils by GC-MS;
• Determination of free amino acids by UV-VIS spectrophotometry from forages, feed, food preparations and chromatographic profile from plant/animal matrices and food products by LC-IC;
• Determination of macro and microelements from plant/animal matrices and food products such as animal origin food products, forages, feed, alcoholic beverages by atomic absorption spectrometry AAS;
• Determination of antioxidant activity (DPPH·, FRAP) and total polyphenols (Folin-Ciocalteu) of extracts from various plant matrices by UV-VIS spectrometry and the polyphenolic profile of plant extracts and bee products by LC-MS;
• Microbiological analyses for food products, such as dairy products and meat preparations, aimed at identifying and quantifying microorganisms to assess food safety. These analyses are performed through standardized tests according to CLSI, and include Total Germ Count (TGC), as well as quantification and presence of Enterobacteriaceae from dairy products; determination of the presence of yeasts and molds, as well as identification and confirmation of various pathogenic bacterial species such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus from animal origin matrices. Additionally, testing for residues is essential to ensure that animal origin products comply with established legal limits, thus protecting consumer health. Within PCI, antibiotic residues from various matrices are determined using the ELISA technique.