Before a food product is put on the market, it has gone through a process of research and

quality controls that enable its consumption. This week, the Universidad Católica de Murcia

has launched its Food Processing Pilot Plant, which is projected as a reference centre for

training in this field, and which is at the service of the agri-food sector to undertake any

project it may require. The companies PANASA, Equilabo, ATTSU, SGE, Inoxpaser and

Electromain have been involved in its implementation.

The Food Processing Pilot Plant is part of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition, whose

dean is José María Cayuela. Furthermore, María Dolores Gil is the technical manager of the

facility, supervised by Beatriz Romanos, founder of TechFood Magazine -a reference

publication for companies, startups and investors in the sector.

100% industrial design for the best training

This new facility, where students of the degrees in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Food

Science and Technology, Biotechnology and Gastronomy, and postgraduate courses in the

area will be trained, complements other facilities such as the GastroLab, the laboratories

and UCAM HiTech. The versatility of the line, which is 100% industrial design and has

computerised all its processes, enables them to acquire skills in the design and control of

basic operations of formulation, mixing and heat treatment of liquid products and

nutritional creams. The implementation of these processes on a semi-industrial scale

allows the integration of practical knowledge related to different areas, from food hygiene

and safety to the quality control of processed products or microbiology, for which it also

has a laboratory area with state-of-the-art technologies for online control as well as

refrigeration and freezing chambers.

University-business

The multidisciplinary nature of this facility, which will also provide a space for research and

knowledge transfer to improve food quality and safety and optimise food production

processes, is worth to be highlighted. To this end, it will be able to undertake projects in

any agri-food sector, as it will adapt to any formulation and design of the entire food

process, to solving specific issues such as heat treatment, food safety, technological

problems, eliminating additives, packaging, or the use of agro-industrial by-products,

among others.

These facilities are a new UCAM commitment to research in the field of health, ‘following

the spirit of service of the president of UCAM, José Luis Mendoza’, said José María Cayuela,

dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition, who also indicated that ‘we want to be a

reference centre both for food processing at pilot plant level and for specialised training in

everything related to the agri-food industry, a subject with a strong presence in the Region

of Murcia’.