I did my internship in the Laboratory of Meat and Fish Technology at the Department of Animal Production and Food Science of the University of Zaragoza from 01.10.2023 to 31.12.2023. During my internship, I worked particularly in the Meat and Fish technology laboratory and the university's pilot plant from 09:00 to 18:00. The weeks 1-3 in October, I was dedicated to introducing the environment, laboratory facilities, methods in the food science laboratory, pilot plant, and review of articles.
Week four was dedicated to consulting and designing an experiment for training the methods on fish fillets. In November, we ran an experiment. During the first week of November, I, along with the lab members and my supervisor, went to the fish farm in another city to buy the fish and then started the sampling and procedures of the experiment the following days. The training of methods, practicing, and all the measurements lasted from November till the second week of December. During this period, I learned microbial analysis, including preparing the culture medium, the sample-providing procedures, microbial count, and data analyzing. In addition, I was trained to measure the spoilage indices like oxidation by TVBN and TBARS. In the third week in December, I was trained to assess the antioxidant capacity with specific methods and sensorial evaluation. The last week of December was spent analyzing the results statistically and preparing the reports. In addition, during my traineeship, I did some other activities in the field of food science, including the production of different types of sausages from the basic to the last step, hydrolysis, and participation as a sensorial assessor.
I developed my laboratory skills during my internship at the University of Zaragoza. I particularly found direct interactions with these techniques useful in improving my skills and my Ph.D. study.
While I had many useful experiences at the University of Zaragoza, I still need more time to learn more techniques for my future career, and three months were not enough to meet all the available facilities. In conclusion, my experience in Zaragoza with a friendly and supportive team was crucial to my development as a Ph.D. student. I will take the lessons and skills I learned and apply them to my studies.
For financial support, I would like to acknowledge Erasmus+, PPSŘ project, and Laboratory of Aquatic Toxicology and Ichthyopathology in Vodňany.
