Applied Sciences Webinar | Advancements in Food Nutrition and Bioactive Compounds
Applied Sciences Webinar | Advancements in Food Nutrition and Bioactive Compounds
26 September 2025
Bioactive Compounds, Prickly Pear, Pro-Apoptotic Effect, Strawberry Genotypes, Compost Teas, Agro-Industrial Waste, Antimicrobial Activity, Antiviral Activity, Sustainable Nutrition
Welcome from the Chair
22nd Applied Sciences Webinar
Advancements in Food Nutrition and Bioactive Compounds
We are pleased to welcome you to the upcoming webinar “Advancements in Food Nutrition and Bioactive Compounds”, a scientific event focused on the innovative potential of food-derived bioactives and sustainable bioproducts in human health and disease prevention.
The webinar will feature three cutting-edge presentations addressing complementary aspects of food science and biotechnology. The first talk explores the antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of purple prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) peel extract in colorectal cancer models, offering insights into the valorization of agro-waste for anticancer applications. The second presentation focuses on how water deficit and irrigation strategies influence the nutritional quality and bio-functional compound content in strawberries—highlighting genotype-dependent responses to drought stress and opportunities for breeding resilient, high-quality cultivars. Lastly, the third contribution introduces compost teas as emerging antiviral and antimicrobial agents, emphasizing their molecular mechanisms and potential role in circular bioeconomy and green healthcare.
This event brings together researchers, food scientists, biotechnologists, and professionals engaged in sustainable nutrition, functional foods, and the therapeutic application of natural compounds. Join us for a stimulating discussion on the intersections between food, health, and sustainability.
Date: 26th September 2025
Time: 10:00am CEST | 4:00pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 824 7371 8276
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Event Chair
Dr. Cianciosi holds a Master’s degree in Applied Biology and earned her PhD in Biomedical Sciences at Università Politecnica delle Marche (Ancona, Italy), where she investigated the effects of Manuka honey on colorectal cancer stem-like cells. She has completed multiple postdoctoral fellowships, including two awarded by Fondazione Umberto Veronesi (2024–2026), focusing on the interplay between obesity, bioactive compounds (such as licorice), and breast cancer biology. She also served as adjunct professor for the course “Food Composition Tables. Diet Planning for Athletes” in the First-Level Master’s Program in “Nutrition and Applied Dietetics in Sport”organized by FUNIBER and Università Politecnica delle Marche (Ancona, Italy). Her scientific expertise lies in the use of advanced in vitro models, including 3D cultures and co-culture systems, to explore the therapeutic potential of food-derived bioactives. She is author and co-author of over 70 peer-reviewed articles and more than 20 conference abstracts. Dr. Cianciosi actively contributes as editorial board member and reviewer for several journals and has served as Guest and Topic Editor in multiple special issues.
Invited Speakers
Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Specialistiche e Odontostomatologiche, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy,
Joint Laboratory on Food Science, Nutrition, and Intelligent Processing of Foods, Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy, Universidad Europea del Atlántico Spain and Jiangsu University, China
Dr. Armas has a PhD degree in Biomedical Sciences from Polytechnic University of Marche from 2025. Mr Armas got his Bachelor’s Degree in Food Sciences from the University of Havana in 2013. Later, in 2018, he obtained his Master’s Degree in Food Engineering. At the beginning of his professional career, the focus of his work was the quality control of seafood, specifically chemical analysis in the Fisheries Research Center, in Cuba. In 2019, he won a position at Nanjing Agricultural University at the Glycomics and Glycan Bioengineering Research Center (China). During that time, his research focused on the degradation of chitin to produce bioethanol. In 2021, he obtained a PhD position at the Marche Polytechnic University in the Department of Clinical Sciences (Italy). During that time, he did an internship at the European University of the Atlantic, and he participated in 4 international congresses. Finally, he is the author and co-author of 5 and 21 papers, respectively. Currently, he is working as a researcher at UNIVPM in a PRIMA project related to the beneficial effects of olive-based products, with a focus on the in vitro anti-inflammatory effect.
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
During the PhD program, Dr. Raffaelli worked in Sant’Orsola S.C.A. (Pergine Valsugana, Italy) as technical support, testing new sensors devices for the water management in berry plants cultivation. Concerning the abroad work experience, he was involved for two years, in one experimentation in the IFAPA research institute (Malaga, Spain), investigating on the influence of drought stress tolerance on the physiological status of plants, with specific attention on Fragaria x ananassa Duch. He graduated in the master’s course of Food and beverage innovation and management (LM-70) and in the bachelor’s course of Food science and technology (L-26). He attended the Master of Advanced Studies promoted by EIT Food and the University of Turin “Innovator Fellowship Program” regarding the development of new start-up in the agri-food sector, supporting the Agenda 2030 for a sustainable development. He had the First English certificate (B2 Level) by Cambridge Press and Assessments. He attended national Italy) and international (Belgium, Romania, Spain, USA and Canada) conferences. As professional experiences outside the academic world, he’s a professional olive oil taster (Flavor association) and wine taster (AIS Sommelier)”.
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Portici, Naples, Italy
Mariavittoria Verrillo is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Agricultural Sciences and CERMANU of the University of Naples Federico II. PhD in Agricultural and Agri-food sciences (XXXII cycle). She carried out research period abroad at the Department of Analytical Chemistry and Metabolomic Center of the University of Vienna. She was Principal Investigator of STAR 2018 (Pharmahumic Project) financed by UNINA and Compagnia San Paolo. She is holder of a teaching support contract for the course General and Organic chemistry AA 2023/24, of the Department of Biology UNINA. Her main research activities are focused on the extraction and chemical characterization of compost tea and humic substances from agro-food composted residues and evaluation of biostimulant, antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory features of organic extracts. Additionally, she works on combined metabolomic and lipidomic approaches by Orbitrap-Q-Elite of plants and the extraction and characterization of essential oils by GC-MS.
Registration
This is a FREE webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.
Certificates of attendance will be delivered to those who attend the live webinar.
Can’t attend? Register anyway and we’ll let you know when the recording is available to watch.
Program
|
Speaker/Presentation |
Time in CEST |
Time in CST Asia |
|
Dr. Danila Cianciosi (Chair) Chair Introduction |
10:00 - 10:10 am |
16:00 - 16:10 pm |
|
Dr. Yasmany Armas Diaz (Speaker 1) Antiproliferative and Pro-Apoptotic Effect of Purple Prickly Pear Peel Extract on Cancer: A Focus on Human Colorectal Cancer HCT116 Cells |
10:10 - 10:30 am |
16:10 - 16:30 pm |
|
Dr. Davide Raffaelli (Speaker 2) Nutritional Quality of Strawberry Fruits (Fragaria × Ananassa Duch.) From Plants Grown Under Different Amounts of Irrigation in Soilless System |
10:30 - 10:50 am |
16:30 - 16:50 pm |
|
Dr. Mariavittoria Verrillo (Speaker 3) Circular Biosolutions: Compost Teas by Agrofood Wastes as a New Frontier in Antiviral and Antimicrobial Therapy |
10:50 - 11:10 am |
16:50 - 17:10 pm |
|
Q&A |
11:10 - 11:25 am |
17:10 - 17:25 pm |
|
Closing of Webinar Danila Cianciosi (Chair) |
11:25 - 11:30 am |
17:25 - 17:30 pm |
Relevant Special Issue
Advancements in Food Nutrition and Bioactive Compounds
A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Science and Technology".
Edited by Dr. Danila Cianciosi.
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2025
Sponsors and Partners
Organizers
