Cesar Ricardo Bressani Castignoli (28 September 1926 – 30 January 2015) was a Guatemalan food scientist. Born in

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...

, he received a bachelor of science in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...

degree from the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

in 1948. In 1951, he received a master's degree from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of th ...

. In the same year, Bressani returned to

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

where he worked at the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama, INCAP. In 1952, he received a scholarship from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropy, philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, aft ...

to study

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

, where Bressani obtained his Ph.D. in 1956. Afterwards, he reincorporated to the INCAP, this time as the Head of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Food until 1993. In 1983, Bressani became one of the 42 founding members of the Third World Academy of Sciences, known today as

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable deve ...

. In the 1990s, Bressani was the editor-in-chief of the journal Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición. He was also an associate editor of the Food and Nutrition Bulletin. In 1992, he arrived to the

Universidad del Valle de Guatemala The Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) (University of the Valley of Guatemala) is a private, not-for-profit, secular university in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It was founded in 1966 by a private foundation, which had previously overseen t ...

, and in 1998, he founded the Center for the Studies of Food Science and Technology. Bressani wrote more than 300 publications in many scholarly international journals. Bressani performed an investigation on practical solutions to nutritional problems within the population of

and the rest of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. His experiments led to the creation and production of Incaparina, a nutritional supplement based on a mixture of

corn flour Cornflour may refer to: * Cornflour (in the UK), corn starch, from the endosperm of the kernel of the corn (maize) grain * Corn flour (in the US and elsewhere), very finely ground cornmeal, ground from dried maize See also * Flour * Starch * G ...

soy flour The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu ...

, cottonseed meal, and Torula yeast. This supplement was intended to be primarily served in the form of

gruel Gruel is a food consisting of some type of cereal—such as ground oats, wheat, rye, or rice—heated or boiled in water or milk. It is a thinner version of porridge that may be more often drunk rather than eaten. Historically, gruel has been a ...

References

External links

UNICEF campaign 'Te Toca' (It's your turn)

Corinne A. Pernet, “Between Entanglements and Dependencies: Food, Nutrition, and National Development at the Central American Institute of Nutrition (INCAP),” In Sönke Kunkel, Corinna Unger und Marc Frey, eds., International Organizations and Development, 1945-1990, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, p.101-125.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bressani, Ricardo 1926 births 2015 deaths Food scientists Guatemalan scientists Grand Crosses of the Order of the Quetzal Albert Einstein World Award of Science Laureates University of Dayton alumni Iowa State University alumni Purdue University alumni Guatemalan people of Italian descent Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences

References

Further reading

External links