The UB and Chartier World LAB Barcelona create a chair to promote research on gastronomy and aromas

The presentation of the chair took place on Wednesday, November 3, in the Historical Building of the UB, in an event presided by the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, with the participation of François Chartier, co-funder of Chartier World LAB Barcelona, and the director of the chair, Axel Bidon-Chanal, Serra-Hunter professor of the Department of Nutrition, Food Sciences and Gastronomy of the UB.

The chair results from a collaboration between Chartier World LAB Barcelona and the Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus of the UB. It features several activities, including a work seminar, a university extension course and a challenge contest of creativity and innovation, all of them are hold biannually. The chair will also promote annual support to research.

The Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus and Chartier World LAB Barcelona had already started their collaboration before. Specifically, with a project to use the cava lees -residual yeasts from secondary fermentation- in the production of sourdough for bread and other products. The study of this possibility was conducted through the thesis by Alba Martín, supervised by lecturer Montserrat Riu, member of the Research Group on Wines, Aroma and Quality Factors at INSA-UB. “The creation of the chair will serve to promote other research lines developed at the Campus, linked to the field of artificial intelligence, such as the research line on computational gastronomy”, notes Axel Bidon-Chanal.

The company Chartier World LAB Barcelona, co-funded by Isabelle Moren and François Chartier, is focused on the exploration of the wine and gastronomy fields from multiple perspectives. Among these are the study of aromatic properties with sensorial analysis, the study of molecular harmonies of beverages and their application to food pairing and tgeh development of artificial intelligence-based resources aimed at gastronomy together with Sony AI Tokyo and a multidisciplinary team. François Chartier, international distinguished sommelier and creator of the science of molecular harmonies, has carried out his professional activity from a scientific perspective that helped him to understand the phenomena of food and beverage pairing and ingredients for the creation of recipes. This knowledge is applied to the whole sector of scents.

The Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus of the University of Barcelona, located in Torribera Santa Coloma de Gramenet), currently holds the bachelorʼs degrees of Food Science and Technology and Human Nutrition and Dietetics, as well as part of the interuniversity bachelorʼs degree on Culinary and Gastronomic Sciences, co-offered by the UB and UPC in collaboration with the School of Tourism, Hospitality and Tourism of the University of Barcelona (CETT-UB). Apart from bachelorʼs degrees, the faculty offers the masterʼs degree on Food Safety, the masterʼs on Nutrition in Physical Activity and Sports, the postgraduate studies on Nutritional Coaching and New Approaches in Patient Care and the program on Food and Gastronomy of the University of Experience. The Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus is also the headquarters of the Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety of the UB (INSA-UB), the Department of Nutrition, Food Safety and Gastronomy of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, the Food Observatory (ODELA) and the Service for the Analyses of Viruses in the Food Chain and Water Cycle.