Veronika Somoza

Veronika Somoza

Associate Professor, Food Science
A103 Babcock Hall
somoza@wisc.edu
(608) 890-1627
FAX (608) 262-6872

Instruction

Food Chemistry I: Nature and chemical behavior of food constituents including proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, minerals, water, enzymes, pigments and flavors.

Research Interests

Application of activity guided screening techniques to complex food matrices and to isolated bioactive food compounds by means of analytical, biochemical and molecular-biological methods in different test systems (cell culture models, animal studies and human trials).

Chemical identification and characterization of bioactive food components and their metabolites by using various analytical techniques, e.g., GPC, HPLC-UV/DAD/fluorescence, GCMS/MS, LCMS/MS, NMR, Real Time PCR, 2D-Gelelectrophoresis, MALDI-TOF, flow-cytometry, and various cell culture models.

Investigations of the impact of technological parameters on food processing with regards to the bioavailability and physiological efficacy of food ingredients.

Education and Academic Background

  • M.S. Nutrition, University of Giessen, Germany 1991
  • Ph.D. Nutrition, University of Vienna, Austria, 1995
  • Assistant Professor, University of Kiel, Germany 1996-2002
  • Vice Director, German Research Center for Food Chemistry, Germany, 2003-2007

Scientific and Professional Organizations

  • German Chemical Society
  • German Society of Nutrition
  • American Chemical Society / Agricultural and Food Division
  • European Academy of Nutritional Sciences (EANS)

Selected Publications (Maiden name Faist)

Faist, V., J.S. Koenig, H. Hoeger, and I. Elmadfa. 1998. Mitochondrial oxygen consumption, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme systems in skeletal muscle of senile dystrophic mice. Eur J Physiol 437:168-171.

Drusch, S., V. Faist, and H.F. Erbersdobler. 1999. Determination of N -carboxymethyllysine in milk products by a modified reversed-phase method. Food Chem 64:1-7.

Faist, V., S. Drusch, C. Kiesner, I. Elmadfa, and H.F. Erbersdobler. 2000. Determination of lysinoalanine in foods containing milk protein by high performance chromatography after derivatisation with dansyl chloride. Int Dairy J 10:339-346.

Faist, V. and H.F. Erbersdobler. 2001. Metabolic transit and in vivo effects of melanoidins and precursor compounds deriving from the Maillard reaction. Ann Nutr Metab 45:1-12.

Zill, H., R. Günther, H. F. Erbersdobler, U.R. Fölsch, and V. Faist. 2001. RAGE expression and AGE-induced MAP kinase activation in Caco-2 cells. Biochem Biophys Res Comm 288:1108-1111.

Lindenmeier, M., V. Faist, and T. Hofmann. 2002. Structural and functional characterization of pronyl-lysine, a novel protein modification in bread crust melanoidins showing in vitro antioxidative and Phase I/II-enzyme modulating activity. J Agric Food Chem 50:6997-7006.

Wenzel, E., S. Tasto, H.F. Erbersdobler, and V. Faist. 2002. Effect of heat treated proteins on selected parameters of the biotransformation system in the rat. Ann Nutr Metab 46:9-16.

Zill, H., S. Bek, T. Hofmann, J. Huber, O. Frank, M. Lindenmeier, B. Weigle, H.F. Erbersdobler, S. Scheidler, A.E. Busch, and V. Faist. 2003. RAGE-mediated MAPK activation by food-derived AGE and non-AGE products. Biochem Biophys Res Comm 300:311-315.

Somoza, V., M. Lindenmeier, E. Wenzel, O. Frank, H.F. Erbersdobler, and T. Hofmann. 2003. Activity-guided identification of a chemopreventive compound in coffee beverage using in vitro and in vivo techniques. J Agric Food Chem 51:6861-6869.

Wenzel, E., T. Soldo, H.F. Erbersdobler, and V. Somoza. 2005. Bioactivity and metabolism of trans-resveratrol orally administered to Wistar rats. Mol Nutr Food Res 49:482-94.

Somoza, V., E. Wenzel, M. Lindenmeier, D. Grothe, H.F. Erbersdobler, and T. Hofmann. 2005. Influence of feeding malt, bread crust and a pronylated protein on the activity of chemopreventive enzymes and antioxidative defense parameters in vivo. J Agric Food Chem 53:8176-8182.

Somoza, V., E. Wenzel, C. Weiß, I. Clawin-Rädecker, N. Grübel, and H.F. Erbersdobler. 2006. Dose dependent utilisation of casein-linked lysinoalanine, N-epsilon-fructoselysine and N-epsilon-carboxymethyllysine in rats. Mol Nutr Food Res 50:833-841.

Lindenmeier, M., A. Burkon, and V. Somoza. 2007. A novel method to measure both the reductive and the radical scavenging activity in a linoleic acid model system. Mol Nutr Food Sci 51:1441-1446.

Held, S., P. Schieberle, and V. Somoza. 2007. Identification of a-terpineol as an anti-inflammatory component of orange juice by in vitro studies in oral buccal cells. J Agric Food Chem 55:8040-8046.

Burkon, A. and V. Somoza. Quantification of free and protein-bound trans-resveratrol metabolites and identification of trans-resveratrol-C/O-conjugated diglucuronides--two novel resveratrol metabolites in human plasma. Mol Nutr Food Res, in press.

Andersen, G., P. Köhler, and V. Somoza. Postprandial glucose and free fatty acid response is improved by whole wheat fortified with germinated wheat seedlings. Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research, in press.

Andersen, G., K. Harnack, H.F. Erbersdobler, E. Wenzel, and V. Somoza. Dietary eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid are more effective than alpha-linolenic acid in improving the insulin sensitivity in rats. Ann Nutr Metab, in press.