ccollar@iata.csic.es

Curriculum Vitae

Concha Collar (1957) has a PhD in Chemistry (1983), and is Professor of Research of the High Council for Scientific Research CSIC at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA), in Valencia (Spain). She is author/co-author of more than two hundred publications in the international scientific and technical literature (SCI scientific and technical papers, book chapters, Congress proceedings, book edition) on cereal science and technology. She has served as Head of the Department of Food Science (IATA, CSIC, 2005-2008), Associated Professor of the Technical University of Valencia (UPV), Invited Professor of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, and Member of the Institute of Food Engineering for the Development (IIAD, UPV).

Since 1984 she has been involved in National, European research projects (FP2, FP4, FP6) and International networks and actions on basic and applied aspects of Cereal Science. She has signed contracts with the agro-food Industry, conducted Doctoral Thesis, given pregraduated lessons and postgraduated Masters on Food Science and Engineering and Cereal Science and Technology, and training courses to manufacturers. She makes presentations and lectures extensively on cereal subjects throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

Chairperson of many international technical sessions at cereal events, and President of International Congresses (China, Chile, Spain), she has taken part actively in many international conferences, congresses and events since 1988. In 2004 she was appointed as National Delegate of Spain in the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC) and was elected as member of the Executive Committee in ICC until 2012. She has hold the ICC Presidency in 2007-2008, and chaired the ICC Governing Committee. Currently, she is member of the ICC Governing Committee.

She has been the recipient of the Spanish Medical Association 2006 Top 100 Ideas Achievement Award on scientific research (Spain). In 2007 she received the AACC International Technical Planning Team Annual Meeting Award (USA), and become a member of honour of the Chinese Cereal and Oil Association (CCOA). In 2008 she was awarded with the Harald Perten Foundation Prize and in 2009 she deserved the Friedrich Schweitzer Medal. Since 2011, she is fellow of the ICC Academy.

Main goals

Devoted to the research in cereals and cereal-based products, she aims to design, develop and assess innovative value-added cereal-based goods to be transferred and exploited by the related industry. Research is tackled by means of a multidisciplinary/plural approach ((bio)chemical, physic-chemical, sensory and nutritional aspects) for understanding the mechanisms responsible for the functionality of cereal and other grain constituents that modulate the performance of complex cereal-based matrices.

Background

Current lines of research

1. Multidisciplinary approach to assess the quality and stability of cereal matrixes with diluted or lacked biopolymers (protein/gluten and/or starch) addressed to targeted groups of population (overweight/obese, low dietary fiber intake, low protein intake).

2. Exploration of the competences and exploitation of the the suitability of non-breadmaking whole grains (minor cereals, pseudocereals and legumes) with unique nutritional components, to be included in mixed matrices (wheat-, wheat-free) to obtain novel and healthy fermented baked goods meeting the functional and sensory restrictions of viscoelastic breadmaking systems.

Derived sublines include:

• To know:

    a) the integrated functional response at macroscopic, microscopic and molecular levels and

    b) the nutritional and sensory profiles of single and associated whole grain cereal-based matrices made under different technological conditions,

• To optimize the whole grain-based formulations providing/restoring the viscoelastic environment required in fermentative processes,

• To identify the technological factors responsible for the variation of nutritional quality of technologically viable blended matrices,

• To characterize the (bio)chemical changes taking place at the interphase starch-protein-lipid in blended wheat- and wheat-free cereal matrices and

• To define dough functional parameters allowing:

    a) the characterization of the new blended matrices and

    b) the prediction of the quality and stability of multigrain baked goods.