**Francesco Caponio**

Francesco Caponio (Full Professor) graduated in agrarian sciences from the University of Bari (Italy). Since 2017, he has been working as a full professor in food science and technology. He is the principal investigator of several competitive research projects and has been an invited speaker at many national and regional conferences. He is the author of over 245 works published in cited international journals. He has worked as the coordinator of the bachelor's and master's degree programmes in "Food Science and Technology" at the University of Bari Aldo Moro and is a member of the Ph.D. School in "Soil and Food Sciences". His research interests cover olive oil technology; the setup of analytical techniques designed to ensure the quality and genuineness of foods; the extraction, characterization, and valorisation of bioactive compounds from the processing of wastes and their application to increase the shelf-life of foods; and the formulation of innovative and functional foods.
