Sara VitaliniCooperation in research activities for Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences-DiSAA, Milan State University, Italy
Biography
Sara Vitalini obtained her degree in Natural Sciences in 2003 at the University of Milan, Italy. After a specialization, in 2004, in ?Medicinal Plants and Natural Compounds: characterization and uses?, she carried on her studies on flavonoid composition and biological activity of autochthonous Italian species under the supervision of Prof. Franca Tomè at the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Botany of the Biology Department. Furthermore, from 2003 to 2006, she collaborated with Dr. Francesco Visioli in research activities for the evaluation of the biological activity of crude extracts, fractions, and pure compounds from medicinal and food plants at the Pharmacological Sciences Department of the same University. Afterwards, she obtained a research grant for a project on secondary metabolites in medicinal plants, biological activity, and their conservation at the Ghirardi Botanical Garden of the University of Milan. Sara received her Ph.D. in Plant Biology and Crop Production, in January 2012, at the Plant Production Department of the Milan State University, where she investigated the effects generated by some SAR (Systemic Acquired Resistance) inducers on grape secondary metabolites, with Prof. Marcello Iriti as her tutor. After receiving the Ph.D. degree, she worked as a grant recipient at the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department in the ?CROPS - Intelligent sensing and manipulation for sustainable production and harvesting of high value crops, clever robots for crops? project. Currently, in collaboration with various institutions, she is dedicated to her research lines, mainly (i) biological activity of secondary metabolites, (ii) chemotaxonomy of medicinal plants, (iii) ethnobotany, and (iv) effects of resistance inducers on secondary metabolite content in food species. She has 41 peer-reviewed papers (Scopus h-index 17) and she has presented 40 oral and poster communications at national and international congresses. She is reviewer for various international scientific journals and associate editor of Research Journal of Phytochemistry.
Research Interest
- Phytochemistry
- Chemotaxonomy
- Secondary metabolites of medicinal and food species: ecological and physiological aspects, biological activities, reaction to resistance inducer treatments
- Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology