Domenico Fabrizio Nicosia
Tutor: Cinzia Lucia Randazzo
- 2021-2024: PhD course in Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science, University of Catania. Research project: “Industrial-scale development of a vegetable rennet based on Kiwi juice and a functional microbial culture for the formulation of healthy Halal-certified cheeses”.
- 2019-2020: Master’s Degree in Food Science and Technology, University of Catania; supervisors: Prof.ssa Cinzia Lucia Randazzo and Dr.ssa. Nunziatina Russo Degree thesis: “Studio dell’antibiotico resistenza di ceppi di Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus di origine alimentare e umana”. Final mark: 110/110.
- 2015-2019: Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science and Technology, Univeristy of Catania; supervisor: Prof. Luana Pulvirenti. Degree thesis: “Estrazione di composti bioattivi da scarti di lavorazione agroalimentare ". Final mark: 101/110.
The main objective of the phD research is to develop, at industrial scale, a vegetable rennet based on Kiwi juice and a functional microbial culture for the production of an innovative "Islam-compliant" healthy cheese. The research project addresses various degrees of innovation: from the implementation of new dairy production protocols, to the use of new alternative milk coagulants to animal rennet; from the formulation of a new vegetable microbial culture with functional and debittering properties to the development of the cheese-making / fermentation process. In order to compare the genetic and metabolic pathway of the innovative cheese microbiota with the conventional one, obtained with commercial rennet, omics approach will be applied.
- Poster presentation: R. Inturri, A. Pino, B. Benkaddur, F. D. Nicosia, C. Caggia, C. L. Randazzo, G. Blandino. Antibiotic resistance genes of the new Bifidobacterium asteroides BEBIF 17 strain isolated from honeybees’ gut . 48° Virtual SIM (Società Italiana di Microbiologia), 21-22 settembre 2020, 18 novembre 2020.
- Poster presentation : A. Vaccalluzzo, A. Pino, F. D. Nicosia, M. De Angelis, C. Caggia, C. L. Randazzo. Selezione di ceppi β-glucosidasi positivi da impiegare nella fermentazione naturale di olive da tavola siciliane. XIII Convegno Nazionale sulla Biodiversità (Biodiversità 2021), Foggia 7-9 settembre 2021.
- Poster presentation: F.D. NICOSIA, I. PUGLISI, R. LA CAVA, A. PINO, A. BAGLIERI, C. CAGGIA, C. L. RANDAZZO. Development of a kiwi-based vegetable milk coagulant. 12th NIZO Dairy Conference Innovations in Dairy Ingredients, poster reference number P54 (5-7 ottobre 2021).
- Nicosia, F. D., Puglisi, I., Pino, A., Caggia, C., & Randazzo, C. L. (2022). Plant Milk-Clotting Enzymes for Cheesemaking. Foods, 11(6), 871. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11060871.
- Nicosia, F. D., Puglisi, I., Pino, A., Baglieri, A., La Cava, R., Caggia, C. & Randazzo, C. L. (2022). An Easy and Cheap Kiwi-Based Preparation as Vegetable Milk Coagulant: Preliminary Study at the Laboratory Scale. Foods, 11(15), 2255. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11152255.
- Pino, A., Nicosia, F. D., Agolino, G., Timpanaro, N., Barbagallo, I., Ronsisvalle, S. & Randazzo, C. L. (2022). Formulation of germinated brown rice fermented products functionalized by probiotics. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 80, 103076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2022.103076.