The designation of Chemistry as the ‘Central Science’ is a good indication of its relevance within any scientific or technological field. Chemistry aims to understand the properties of substances and the changes they undergo. Within chemistry, Organic Chemistry, dealing with those compounds mostly composed of carbon, is one of the sciences most closely related to our daily life. The main building blocks of living matter (proteins, sugars, lipids, nucleic acids, enzymes etc.) as well as many substances that are part of our world (drugs, pesticides, soaps, textiles, fuels etc.) are organic molecules. For this reason, it is a discipline closely related to Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Physiology, Pharmacology, etc. and its knowledge is of major importance in a large number of specialized areas such as Animal or Vegetable Production, Material Engineering, Food Science, among others.
The Organic Chemistry subject in the Food Science degree is an instrumental subject that provides students with the basic tools they will need to follow further studies and work in their profession, deal with the chemical processes that foodstuffs and their additives undergo, as well as the derivation reactions and detection methods involved in the main analytical techniques.
The aim, therefore, is for to acquire a basic knowledge of the discipline that will enable them to understand the structure of organic compounds, their properties and reactions. The approach used for this will be based on connecting structure with properties, and properties with reactivity, using reaction mechanisms as the guiding line of the class.
Laboratory practices are a fundamental part of the activities of the course, as they provide a good environment for synthesizing the knowledge and competences acquired during the course, and thereby enable students to apply them to a context similar to what the students will find outside the faculty.
English Friendly subject: International students may request from the teachers: a)
English Friendly subject: International students may request from the teachers: a) materials and bibliographic references in English, b) tutoring sessions in English, c) exams and assessments in English.
