Probiotics and Prebiotics

Biography

Susana Marta Isay Saad studied Pharmacy and Biochemistry at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil (1982), where she also received her Master of Science Degree (1993) and PhD Degree (1997) in Food Science and conducted her Post-Doc work in Food Technology (2000). Nowadays (since 2017), she is Full Professor at the University of São Paulo and works at the Department of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Technology - School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, since January 2000 (Associate Professor from 2007-2017), where she teaches Food Technology for the undergraduate students and “Probiotic cultures: technological applications” and “Probiotics in food products and their effects on human’s health” for MSc and PhD candidates. Susana and the Post-Doc researchers, and the PhD, MSc, and undergraduate students of her lab and under her supervision develop dairy and non-dairy products supplemented with probiotic cultures, associated or not with prebiotic ingredients. They evaluate microbiological, instrumental texture, physico-chemical and sensory parameters of the products being developed, during their refrigerated shelf-life. The evaluation of different parameters is conducted in order to verify the probiotic and/or synbiotic potential of each product, as well as its market potential. At the same time, they evaluate the probiotic and the synbiotic potential of the food products developed through in vitro tests, using static, as well as dynamic systems. Moreover, clinical randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials to evaluate probiotic and synbiotic effects in humans have also been applied. Susana is Vice-Head of the Department of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Technology/ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Associate Editor of the Brazilian Journal of Microbiology. She has been involved in several international projects, as the coordinator or as a member. Currently, she is the Brazilian coordinator of the project “Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a synbiotic approach for improving human health and well-being (BioSyn)” from FAPESP (project #2013/50506-8), within the frame of the international thematic project “Strategic Research Collaboration in Food Science in the State of São Paulo, Brazil and Denmark – 2013” FAPESP/DCSR, and associate researcher of the thematic institutional project from FAPESP – CEPID – Research, Innovation and Diffusion Center called “Food Research Center” or FoRC (project #2013/07914-8).

Research Interest

Food Science and Technology – Development and evaluation of dairy and non-dairy food products supplemented with probiotic cultures and/or prebiotic ingredients and evaluation of potential health effects. Objectives: Develop dairy and non-dairy products supplemented with probiotic cultures, either individually or combined, associated or not with prebiotic ingredients; evaluate the probiotic and synbiotic potential of the products developed through static and dynamic systems and through human clinical trials, besides evaluating microbiological, instrumental texture, physico-chemical, and sensory parameters of the products being developed, during their shelf-life.