ERICA RENES BAÑUELOS

Erica Renes Bañuelos is a full-time Professor at the University of León, affiliated with the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Food Hygiene and Technology. She is a member of the BALAT research group focused on Lactic Acid Bacteria and Technological Applications, where she contributes to advancing food safety and dairy product innovation through microbial studies and processing optimization.

Her research spans several key areas in Food Technology, including lactic acid bacteria functionality, cheese production dynamics (especially Spanish blue-veined cheeses), microbiome/resistome analysis, nutritional enhancement of dairy products, and sustainable food processing methods like aquafaba applications. Her work integrates both traditional and modern techniques to improve safety and quality in artisanal and industrial dairy systems.

Dr. Bañuelos' publications highlight a strong focus on food safety through microbiome and resistome analysis in cheeses, enzymatic activity of starter cultures, nutritional profiling of dairy products, and innovative applications of plant-based alternatives. Her studies examine raw vs pasteurized milk impacts, biogenic amine reduction, and cyclopropane fatty acid biomarkers for quality assessment.

She earned her PhD from the University of León in 2018 through a thesis titled Enriquecimiento en ácidos grasos bioactivos del queso de oveja a través del estudio y mejora de los factores implicados en la tecnología de su elaboración, supervised by Dr. José María Fresno Baro and Dr. María Eugenia Tornadijo Rodríguez. Her academic work includes developing teaching methodologies like the Bachelor Thesis Club role-playing approach and continuous evaluation systems in Food Technology education.