Andrea Martinelli ha il piacere di invitarvi al seminario:
Integrated Platform for Agro-Industrial Waste Valorization: From Functional Food Ingredients to Sustainable Packaging and Thermochemical Products
di Vesna Antic, University of Belgrade-Faculty of Agriculture, Department for Food Technology and Biochemistry, Serbia
Il seminario si terrà mercoledì 22 aprile alle ore 15.00, in Sala Parravano, ed. Cannizzaro (CU014).
Abstract
The growing generation of agro-industrial waste poses significant environmental and economic challenges while simultaneously offering a sustainable source of bioactive compounds and functional materials. The presentation deals with the development of an integrated platform for the valorization of plant residues from the agro-industry, such as stalks, corn cobs, husks, brewer’s spent grain, and pomaces (grape, apple, beetroot), as well as related agro-residues and food industry by-products.
The proposed approach is based on a stepwise utilization strategy to maximize resource efficiency. In the first stage, waste biomass allocation is guided by chemical composition, safety profiles, and functional properties. Plant residues that meet food safety requirements and exhibit suitable nutritional and techno-functional characteristics are incorporated into food systems to develop fortified food products, thereby improving nutritional value and functional performance.
Residual biomass unsuitable for food applications is subsequently used to produce bio-based materials, including green composites for sustainable food packaging.
In the final stage, residues unsuitable for food and material applications undergo thermochemical conversion processes, such as pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis with other waste materials, yielding value-added products including (bio)oil, (bio)char, and syngas. This integrated cascade approach ensures optimal utilization of residual biomass, minimizes waste streams, and supports the transition to circular, sustainable production systems.
The proposed platform is demonstrated through experimental results and analytical characterization, emphasizing its applicability across food systems, sustainable materials, and environmentally responsible waste management strategies.
Prof. Vesna Antić, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Agriculture
Prof. Vesna Antić has been a Full Professor of Chemistry at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, since 2015. She teaches Organic Chemistry to undergraduate students in the Food Technology program, as well as several courses at the master’s and doctoral levels.
Prof. Antić obtained her PhD in 2003 from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Belgrade, with a dissertation on the synthesis and characterization of thermoplastic ester-siloxane copolymers. Following the completion of her PhD, Prof. Antić continued her professional development through a postdoctoral stay at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. From October 2007 to March 2008, she was a scholarship holder of the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. She subsequently returned to RWTH Aachen several times (November 2009 – February 2010, October 2010 – January 2011, and
August 2013 – November 2013). During her last two stays, she received scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), within a prestigious program for university teachers and researchers. In 2009, Prof. Antić spent one month at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) as a recipient of an Erasmus Mundus scholarship from the European Commission within the “Basileus” program. In 2010, she spent two months at Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic) under the Erasmus Mundus “JoinEU” program.
To date, Prof. Antić has published over 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 54 of which are indexed in the SCIE database, with approximately 1,000 citations and an h-index of 19 (Scopus). Since 2026, she has been a Visiting Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Banja Luka, where she teaches courses across all three study cycles.
Since 2024, Prof. Antić has served as Head of the Department of Food Technology and Biochemistry at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, and is also a member of the Faculty Council. She actively contributes to the academic community as a reviewer for the National Entity for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education (NAT) in the natural sciences and as an evaluator for the European Commission in assessing EU-funded project proposals. She also serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society, a reputable scientific journal indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE).
In addition to her work in polymer chemistry, Prof. Antić’s research addresses toxic substances in food and the environment, including toxic elements and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Her most recent research activities focus on the valorization of plastic waste and agro-industrial biomass as sustainable sources of alternative fuels, chemicals, and materials, addressing key challenges aligned with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In the field of food chemistry, her recent work includes the valorization of food industry by-products into functional products intended for specific consumer groups, such as people with diabetes.