Gabriella Morini, Assistant Professor at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, visits Umeå University to present research on taste and chemoreception and their role in health, metabolism, the gut and food innovation.
About the seminar
Living organisms are equipped with chemical recognition systems, which play a fundamental role in food selection and in the perception of semiochemicals (the substances released by an organism that affects the behaviors of others). In humans, chemoreception is controlled by the senses of taste and smell (along with chemesthetic sensations, such as hot, cold, and pungency).
The identification of taste receptors in the oral cavity was followed by the surprising discovery that they are also present and active in the intestine and many other organs, where their activation generates responses with systemic functions, ranging from nutrient absorption and metabolism to the cross-talk with the microbiota. Information on the most advanced knowledge of chemoreceptors and the function of their ligands can be very useful in product development and in the design of new healthy foods.
Assistant professor Taste & Food Sciences, University of Gastronomic Sciences
Scientific Responsible Pollenzo Food Lab, University of Gastronomic Sciences
Main research fields the study of chemoreception mechanisms, in particular the molecular aspects of taste (receptors, tastants and their interaction), the genetics of taste, the function of extra oral taste receptors and their influence on health status and in shaping the microbiota, the identification of taste active compounds in traditional food and their bioactivity, taste education.
She has carried out these researches in different labs
National Institute for Medical Research, London (UK).
Swiss Institute for Alternatives to Animal Testing, Basel (Switzerland).
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO (U.S.A.).
Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Reading (UK).
Chemistry Division, Department of Agrifood Molecular Sciences, University of Milano (Italy).
She is author of more than 60 publications on international journals, 11 book chapters and 2 patents.
In 2023 she published (with Davide Risso) the book De Gustibus, translated and published by Columbia University press in 2026, with the title On Taste of Humans and other Animals https://cup.columbia.edu/book/on-taste/9780231221290/
Teaching activity
At the University of Gastronomic Sciences she is teaching Molecular & Taste Sciences in the degree in Gastronomic Sciences & Cultures and Molecular aspects of Taste in different Masters.
At Copenhagen University (DK) she is teaching Bioactive Components and Health, Taste and Health module in the MSc Programme in Food Innovation and Health, MSc Programme in Biology and Biotechnology and MSc Programme in Human Nutrition.
