Home » ICTAN Members » Laura Otero García

Laura Otero García
Tenured Scientist
Research Groups:
Department: Department of Technological Processing and Biotechnology
Short Bio
Laura Otero received her PhD in Agricultural Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in 1999. Her PhD thesis ‘Characterization of high-pressure shift freezing in foods’ was carried out at Instituto del Frío (CSIC) and was distinguished with the Extraordinary PhD Award. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Applied Physics (CSIC) and worked on the development of gas sensors for aroma detection in food. Then, she completed another postdoctoral fellowship in process modelling with finite element method at the Faculty of Mathematical Science of Complutense University of Madrid. After these post-doctoral stays, she returned to the Instituto del Frío, first with a I3P work contract and, then, with a Ramón y Cajal contract. Her work was focused on high-pressure food processing, including different aspects such as the determination of thermophysical properties under pressure, modeling and simulation of different high-pressure processes, characterization of high-pressure assisted freezing, and evaluation of pressure induced effects on foods. Since 2010, she has a permanent position as Tenured Scientist at the Institute of Food Science, Technology, and Nutrition (ICTAN, CSIC). At present, her research interests are focused on the characterization of innovative technologies for food preservation. In particular, she is interested in two new technologies: hyperbaric storage and electromagnetic freezing. Her studies have shown that storage under pressure, even at room temperature, can significantly extend the shelf-life of foods and, now, her efforts are aimed at assessing the pressure-temperature effects on food quality degradation kinetics. Moreover, she also investigates the effects of magnetic fields on freezing with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of frozen food.
- Otero, L., Rodríguez, A C, Sanz, PD. Effect of the frequency of weak oscillating magnetic fields on supercooling and freezing kinetics of pure water and 0.9% NaCl solutions. Journal of Food Engineering, 273: 109822 (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2019.109822
- Otero, L, Pérez-Mateos, M, Holgado, F, Márquez-Ruiz, G, López-Caballero, ME. Hyperbaric cold storage: Pressure as an effective tool for extending the shelf-life of refrigerated mackerel (Scomber scombrus, L.). Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies, 51, 41-50 (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.ifset.2018.05.003
- Otero, L, Pérez-Mateos, M, López-Caballero, ME. Hyperbaric cold storage versus conventional refrigeration for extending the shelf life of hake loins. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies, 41,19-25 (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.ifset.2017.01.003
- Bermejo-Prada, A, Colmant, A, Otero, L, Guignon, B. Industrial viability of the hyperbaric method to store perishable foods at room temperature. Journal of Food Engineering, 19, 76-85 (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2016.08.014
- Otero, L, Rodríguez, AC, Pérez-Mateos, M, Sanz, PD. Effects of magnetic fields on freezing: Application to biological products. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety,15(3), 646-667 (2016). DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.12202
- Framework for prediction of thermophysical properties of real foods under pressure. Subcontrato dentro del proyecto: Enabling computer-aided food product and process design for everyone (IP: Dr. Ashim Datta). Investigador responsable en ICTAN: Laura Otero García. 01/05/2018-30/04/2022. USDA-NIFA/Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program.

915492300 (Ext 231222)
l.otero@ictan.csic.es
ORCID:
0000-0003-1636-3263
Researcher ID:
K-8425-2017
Scopus Author ID:
7005329578