SUSU Scientists are Researching Plant Extracts in Cooperation with a Leading Bulgarian University

A delegation from South Ural State University visited the Medical University of Varna (Bulgaria). The goal of the visit was to start cooperative research in the sphere of biologically active extracts.

Our university was represented by the Head of the Department of Food and Biotechnology of the SUSU School of Medical Biology, Doctor of Sciences (Engineering), Professor Irina Potoroko, and Associate Professor of the Department of Food and Biotechnology, Candidate of Sciences (Engineering) Irina Kalinina. Presently, work is being done on researching the extracts with the use of methods and possibilities of the two universities. In 2017, the team of scientists consisting of the universities’ staff submitted a joint application for a grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR).

“For the research, we brought 11 extracts including dihydroquercetin (the extract of larch), fucoidan, Honeysuckle extract, etc. We are also working on a complex biologically active supplement on the basis of several healthful extracts. Within the week we carried out a series of primary analyses in laboratories of the Medical University of Varna. We left the extracts to our colleagues for their further research on cell structures, and the evaluation of their pharmacological effect and biological availability. The university with whom we cooperate is a leading university of Bulgaria, and we expect significant results from the cooperation. We are interested in another point of view: our colleagues study the extracts from the positions of pharmacology and medicine, whereas we know how to apply them in food production,” notes Irina Kalinina.

Obtainment of biologically active supplements possessing anti-oxidant and immunostimulatory properties is one of the key areas of activity at the SUSU SMB Department of Food and Biotechnology. For example, dihydroquercetin is a strong anti-oxidant that can prolong the period of products storage; fucoidan is added when baking bread which possesses anti-stress effect. Cooperation in this area with the Medical University of Varna is especially perspective as it allows combining considerable possibilities of our two scientific schools.

Viktoria Matveichuk; photo: collection of I.V. Kalinina
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