Alba Ester Illera Gigante

Alba Ester Illera Gigante is a Researcher in the Department of Biotechnology and Food Science at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Burgos, specializing in sustainable food processing technologies and biomass valorization through non-thermal methods.

She earned her PhD in 2019 from the University of Burgos with the thesis "Study of non-thermal technologies to preserve the quality of fresh foods," supervised by Dr. Teresa Sanz Díez and Dr. Sagrario Beltrán Calvo.

Her research focuses on Food Biotechnology and Sustainable Food Processing, with expertise in Non-thermal Food Preservation using subcritical water, high-pressure carbon dioxide, and cold plasma systems. She pioneers Biomass Valorization techniques for agricultural residues (corn stover, okara) and food industry byproducts (fish waste, brewer's spent grain) to produce furfural, lactic acid, and protein hydrolysates while addressing Food Safety through microbial decontamination.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications (2022-2025) reveals dominant work in subcritical water-CO₂ systems for biomass conversion, with secondary emphasis on cold plasma applications for poultry decontamination. Her studies consistently feature kinetic modeling, process optimization, and sustainability assessments across biorefinery cascades.

Dr. Illera Gigante actively supervises graduate theses as indicated by her departmental profile's "Theses" section and secures research funding through the Consolidated Research Unit 128. She has developed multiple experimental protocols for enzyme inactivation and value-added compound extraction.

She leads the BIOIND Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology research group, operating advanced laboratories for non-thermal processing, kinetic studies, and product characterization focused on creating scalable eco-friendly food technologies.