Supervisors: Prof. Angela Zinnai and Dr. Isabella Taglieri
Research field: Food Science and Technology
Research interests: Wine, oil, shelf-life, sensor technology, laser spectroscopy
Department head office, via del Borghetto, 80, Pisa
nicola.mercanti@phd.unipi.it
Nicola Mercanti was born in Carrara in 1997. Once enrolled at university of Pisa, he became very interested in the world of research, which resulted in a 6-month laboratory extension at the genetics laboratory of the Department of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Pisa. In 2020, he graduated in “Viticulture and Oenology” at the Department of Agricultural Sciences and in 2022 he graduated with a master’s degree in “Sustainable Innovation in Viticulture and Oenology” (cum laude) with a thesis entitled “Innovative Technologies for the Study of Diffusion Mechanisms that Influence the Evolution of Wine”. The focus of this thesis concerned the biophysical characteristics that determine the evolution of a wine by exploiting innovative and non-destructive methods, such as sensors and laser spectroscopy. In November 2022, he become a PhD candidate at the same department where he conducted research on liquid matrices (wine, oil, and beer) studying optimal methodologies to reduce the use of chemical additives and extend the shelf-life of the product reducing food waste. In collaboration with FT-System (Antares Vision Group) he analyses the process and storage phases of the product, verifying their criticality and, in collaboration with the INFN and CERN, develops and uses sensors that will monitor the product refinement.
