Staff Profile:Dr Maria Jose Oruna-Concha

Name:

Dr M. Jose Oruna-Concha

Job Title:

Senior Research Fellow

Responsibilities:

Areas of Interest:

Over the last 10 years I have been working at the University of Reading as a research fellow with Professor Don Mottram's research group team on research projects sponsored by major food companies. My research interest has been focused on the investigation of low molecular weight non-volatile water soluble compounds (i.e. amino acids, small peptides, sugars, ribonucleotides, organic acids) and their relationship with flavour formation (via Maillard reaction) as well as their taste properties (such as "umami"). Some of the food products I have been working with include vegetables (melons, potatoes, tomatoes), fish, meat, meat products as well as wine products.

Current work includes the study of the influence of cocoa processing techniques on flavanol availability looking Maillard chemistry and their impact on flavanol bioavailability and gut microflora.

Capillary Electrophoresis (CE), GC-MS, LC and LC-MS are the main analytical techniques used to the success of my research work.

 

Research groups / Centres:

Publications:

Koutsidis, G.; Elmore, J.S Oruna-Concha, M.J; Campo, M.M.; Wood, J.D. and Mottram, D.S. Water-soluble precursors of beef flavour: Part I. Effect of diet and breed. Meat Science 2008, 79, 124-130.

Koutsidis, G.; Elmore, J.S.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; Campo, M.M.; Wood, J.D. and Mottram, D.S. Water-soluble precursors of beef flavour: Part II. Effect of post-mortem conditioning. Meat Science 2008, 79, 270-277.

Oruna-Concha, M.J.; Methven, L.; Blumenthal, H.; Young, C. and Mottram, D.S. "Differences in glutamic acid and 5-ribonucleotide contents between flesh and pulp of tomatoes and the relationship with umami taste". J. Agric. Food Chem. 2007, 55, 5576-5580.

Methven, L.; Tsoukka, M.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; Parker, J.K. and Mottram, D.S. "Influence of sulfur amino acids on the volatile and non-volatile components of cooked salmon (Salmo salar)". J. Agric. Food Chem. 2007, 55, 1427-1436.

Mottram, D.S.; Koutsidis, G.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; Ntova, M. and Elmore, J.S "Analysis of important flavor precursors in meat". ACS Symposium Series 2002. Handbook of Flavour Characterization. Ed. Dekker, INC. Chapter 33, 4703-4708.

Oruna-Concha, M.J.; Baker J. and Ames, J.M. "Comparison of the volatile components of two cultivars of potato cooked by boiling, conventional baking and microwave baking". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 2002, 82(9):1080-1087.

Oruna-Concha, M.J.; Duckham, S.C. and Ames, J.M. "Comparison of the volatile components of eight cultivars of potato after microwave baking". Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und-Technologie. 2002, 35(1):80-86

Oruna-Concha, M.J.; Duckham, S.C. and Ames, J.M. "Comparison of volatile compounds isolated from the skin and flesh of four potato cultivars after baking". J. Agric. Food Chem. 2001, 49, 2414-2421.

De La Cruz-García, C.; González-Castro, M.J.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; López-Hernández, J.; Simal-Lozano, J. and Simal-Gándara, J. "The effects of various culinary treatment on the organic acid content of green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.)." Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau. 1999, 95 (8):323-26.

Oruna-Concha, M.J.; López-Hernández, J.; Simal-Lozano, J. and Simal-Gándara, J.; González-Castro, M.J. and De La Cruz-García, C. "Determination of volatile components in fresh, frozen and freezed-dried "Padrón-type" peppers by GC-MS using dynamic headspace sampling and microwave desorption". Journal of Chromatographic Science. 1998, 36(12):583-88.

Oruna-Concha, M.J.; González-Castro, M.J.; López-Hernández, J. and Simal-Lozano, J. "Monitoring of the vitamin C content of frozen green beans and Padrón peppers by HPLC". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 1998, 76(3): 477-80.

González-Castro, M. J.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; López-Hernández, J. and Simal-Lozano, J. "Effects of freeze-drying on the compositions ofgreen beans and Padrón peppers". Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau. 1998, 94(1):89-91.

González-Castro, M. J.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; López-Hernández, J. and Simal-Lozano, J. "Effects of freezing on the organic acid content of frozen green beans and Padrón peppers". Z Lebensm Unters For. 1997, 204: 365-368.

González-Castro, M. J.; López-Hernández, J.; Simal-Lozano, J. and Oruna-Concha, M.J.; "Determination of amino acids in green beans by derivatización with PITC and HPLC with UV detection". Journal of Chromatographic Science. 1997, Vol. 35, pp:181-185.

López-Hernández, J.; Vázquez-Blanco, M.E.; González-Castro, M. J.; Simal-Lozano, J.; Vázquez-Odériz, L. and Oruna-Concha, M.J. "Determination of dietary fibre content of Green Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) of Galicia (N.W. Spain)". Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau. 1997, 93(5):153-154.

González-Castro, M. J.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; López-Hernández, J. and Simal-Lozano, J. "Effects of freezing and freeze-drying on the fatty acid contents of Padrón peppers". Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau. 1997, 93(12):390-392.

Oruna-Concha, M.J.; González-Castro, M.J.; López-Hernández, J. and Simal-Lozano, J. "Effects of freezing on the pigment content of frozen green beans and Padrón peppers". Z Lebensm Unters For. 1997, 205:148-152.

De La Cruz-García, C.; González-Castro, M.J.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; López-Hernández, J.; Simal-Lozano, J. and Simal-Gándara, J. "The effects of various culinary treatment on the pigment content of green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.)." Food Research International. 1997, 30(10):787-91.

Oruna-Concha, M.J.; González-Castro, M.J.; López-Hernández, J. and Simal-Lozano, J. "Evolution of sugar, starch, pectin and insoluble fibre contents in frozen green beans and Padrón peppers". Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau. 1996, 92(9), pp:278-281.

López-Hernández, J.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; Simal-Lozano, J.; Vázquez-Blanco, M.E. and González-Castro, M.J. "Chemical composition of Padrón peppers (Capsicum annuum, L.) grown in Galicia (N. W. Spain)". Food Chem., 1996, 57(4), pp:557-559.

López-Hernández, J.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; Simal-Lozano, J.; Vázquez-Blanco, M.E. and González-Castro, M.J. "Determination of capsaicin and dihidrocapsaicin in cayenne pepper and Padrön peppers by HPLC". Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau. 1996, 92(12), pp:393-395.

González-Castro, M.J.; Oruna-Concha, M.J.; López-Hernández, J.; Simal-Lozano, J. and Ganza-González, A. "Effects ofblanching, freezing and freeze-drying on the fatty acid contents of green beans".Z Lebensm Unters For. 1996, 203, pp: 370-373.

González-Castro, M.J.; López-Hernández, J.; Simal-Lozano, J.; Oruna-Concha, M.J. and Vázquez-Blanco, M.E.."Separation of neutral lipid classes in green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) by HPLC". Journal of Chromatogr. Sci., 1995,Vol. 34 (4), pp:199-201.

Conference proceedings

Oruna-Concha, M.J., Limpou, E., Parker, J.K.P. and Mottram, D.S. 2007. "Free amino acids in meat as precursors of thermally generated aroma" Abstracts of Papers, 234^th ACS National Meeting, Boston, August 19-22.

Blumenthal, H., Young, C., Oruna-Concha, M.J., Methven, L.,Mottram, D.S. 2007. Umami Taste Characteristics in Tomatoes. Proceedings of the Wartburg flavour symposium, in press.

Koutsidis, G.; Mottram, D.S.; Elmore, J.S and Oruna-Concha, M.J."Sugars and related compounds as flavour precursors in meat". Proceedings of the 10^th Weurman Flavour Research Symposium (Dijon 2002) Ed. Quere & Etievant. 654-657

Qualifications:

Graduated from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) with a degree of Pharmacy in 1992 followed by a PhD from the same university in the Food and Nutrition Area within the Analytical Chemistry, Food and Nutrition Department.