Liliana Vargas-Murga

La universitat travessa un moment de transformació profunda. La digitalització, els canvis socials, la diversitat creixent de l’estudiantat i l’impacte de la intel·ligència artificial estan redefinint el sentit mateix de la docència universitària. En aquest context, les pràctiques tradicionals ja no són suficients: cal repensar com s’ensenya, com s’aprèn i quin paper ha d’assumir el professorat en la formació de persones crítiques, compromeses i capaces d’afrontar un món complex. Aquest llibre aborda els principals reptes de la docència universitària contemporània: la motivació i la participació de l’estudiantat, l’equilibri entre rigor acadèmic i innovació pedagògica, la incorporació crítica de les tecnologies digitals, la promoció de la igualtat de gènere i la necessitat de consolidar una universitat inclusiva, justa i socialment responsable. Lluny de receptes simplistes, les aportacions que recull defensen una pedagogia de l’acompanyament, del pensament crític i de l’aprenentatge significatiu, connectat amb la realitat i els valors democràtics. Les reflexions que s’hi presenten neixen de la pràctica i del debat col·lectiu del professorat implicat en les xarxes i els grups d’innovació docent de la Universitat de Girona. Des d’aquesta experiència compartida, el llibre ofereix mirades, preguntes i propostes que conviden a repensar la identitat docent i a reforçar el paper de la universitat com a espai de transformació social. No es tracta només d’innovar metodologies, sinó de renovar el compromís educatiu amb el coneixement, la igualtat i el bé comú.

Many studies indicate that diets including carotenoid-rich foods have positive effects on human health. Some of these compounds are precursors of the essential nutrient vitamin A. The present work is aimed at implementing a database of carotenoid contents of foods available in the European market. Factors affecting carotenoid content were also discussed. Analytical data available in peer-reviewed scientific literature from 1990 to 2018 and obtained by HPLC/UHPLC were considered. The database includes foods classified according to the FoodEx2 system and will benefit compilers, nutritionists and other professionals in areas related to food and human health. The results show the importance of food characterization to ensure its intercomparability, as large variations in carotenoid levels are observed between species and among varieties/cultivars/landraces. This highlights the significance of integrating nutritional criteria into agricultural choices and of promoting biodiversity. The uncertainty quantification associated with the measurements of the carotenoid content was very rarely evaluated in the literature consulted. According to the EuroFIR data quality evaluation system for food composition tables, the total data quality index mean was 24 in 35, reflecting efforts by researchers in the analytical methods, and less resources in the sampling plan documentation.

Foods that are commonly consumed in the diet are considered to provide more than 40 different carotenoids. However, the content in carotenoids varies considerably in both qualitative and quantitative terms as a consequence of different genotypes, climatic conditions of the production area, and agronomic factors, among others. In this paper, analytical data, obtained by HPLC or UHPLC, of carotenoids in fruits and vegetables produced in Ibero-America have been compiled from peer-reviewed journals, organized in food categories, and documented in relation to the sampling and analytical quality system used. In addition to common products of the diet of the Ibero-American countries, other wild or little used fruit and vegetables have been included with the aim of contributing to promote and to value species and local varieties. The importance of the commodities containing carotenoids in food, health, agriculture, and biodiversity, and the need of their preservation, was evidenced in this work namely by the large differences in carotenoid content related to the locals of production and varieties, and the high levels of carotenoids in native fruits and vegetables. The contribution of these compounds to meet the needs of vitamin A as well as the necessity of establishing recommendation for the daily intakes of theses bioactive compounds were also discussed.

The popularity of herbal products, especially plant food supplements (PFS) and herbal medicine is on the rise in Europe and other parts of the world, with increased use in the general population as well as among specific subgroups encompassing children, women or those suffering from diseases such as cancer. The aim of this paper is to examine the PFS market structures in European Community (EC) Member States as well as to examine issues addressing methodologies and consumption data relating to PFS use in Europe. A revision of recent reports on market data, trends and main distribution channels, in addition an example of the consumption of PFS in Spain, is presented. An overview of the methods and administration techniques used to assess individual food consumption as a starting point, including their uses and limitations, as well as some examples of studies that collect Food Supplement (FS) information, including herbal/botanical/plant-derived products are also discussed. Additionally, the intake estimation process of food nutrients is described and used to propose the PFS ingredients intake estimation process. Nationally representative PFS consumption data is scarce in Europe. The majority of studies have been conducted in Scandinavia and the UK. However the heterogeneity of definitions, study design and objectives make it difficult to compare results and extrapolate conclusions.