Maria Piochi

Associate Professor of Food Science and Technology at the University of Gastronomic Sciences since January 2026, she previously served as a Researcher at the same university (2019–2025). She obtained a PhD in Sustainable Management of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Systems from the University of Florence in 2018, and an MSc in Food Science and Technology from the same university in 2011.

She held a Research Fellowship on the project VALORVITIS – Valorization of Wine Industry By-Products for the Production of High Value-Added Compounds (AGER Oenology 2009; AGER Project No. 2010-2222) and has extensive experience in consultancy, project development, and project management for food companies.

Her main research interests focus on consumer food behaviour, individual oral and olfactory variability, and the impact of healthier and more sustainable product reformulation on food perception. She is the author or co-author of more than 40 scientific papers (H-index: 18).

She teaches the courses Food Processing, Future Ingredients and Foods, and Olive Oil Technology and Tasting at UNISG, and has participated in numerous research projects. She specializes in Sensory and Consumer Research, with more than ten years of experience in sensory laboratory management.

She is a member of the Italian Sensory Science Society (SISS), the European Sensory Science Society (E3S), and the Italian Society of Food Science and Technology (SISTAL). She has been a certified Sensory Project Manager since 2014 (Italian Law 4/2013), is a member of the panel for virgin olive oil assessment at DISAFA (University of Turin), and is currently part of the Sensory, Behavior, and Cognition Lab (SBC) team at UNISG.

Coordinator of the Graduate Degree Program in Food Tech for Ecological Transition

Member of the Research Office

Member of the Ethics Committee

Member of the Sensory, Behavior and Cognition Lab (SBC)