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[EN] According to the new market trends, one of the goals in many modern breeding programmes is the development of varieties with enhanced bioactive properties. Despite the importance of evaluating the content of specific molecules, the analysis of the broad antioxidant capacity is often suitable. For instance, if the goal is to evaluate large quantity of materials, or even to compare different agronomical practices to obtain the highest antioxidant properties. Thus, studies related to plant breeding should include subjects related to the knowledge of analytical methods for the evaluation of the bioactive properties in the materials tested. Theoretical lessons establish the basis for understanding the importance of bioactive properties and the influence of stresses in their content. Nevertheless, practical sessions complement this knowledge and improve the competence of future professionals, providing them a tool for the evaluation of bioactive quality in developing breeding materials. We consider therefore that this competence should be acquired during the Master degree in Plant Breeding offered by our institute. Thus, we propose to introduce a practical lesson in the mandatory subject "Instrumental Techniques" aimed to the comparison of two analytical methods for the analysis of bioactive properties. As plant material, we will use water celery, an herbaceous species with great antioxidant properties. The methodology will include the analysis of the antioxidant activity with the DPPH method and the content in total phenolics, both spectrophotometric methods but measuring different aspects of the bioactive quality. The lesson is divided in three sessions of three hours each, in the course of which students will perform all steps for these analyses, including sample preparation, extraction of bioactive molecules, preparation of the calibration curve, and analysis of results. This practical lesson provides students with the competence to evaluate the antioxidant activity of high number of materials using quick and simple spectrophotometric methodologies, and to deal with real problems such as the need of dilution for samples with very high content of bioactive molecules. Moreover, the practical lesson provides the guidelines to adapt the protocols for different materials and consequently to many breeding programmes, and can be also adapted for food technology students., Carla Guijarro-Real is grateful to the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte of Spain (MECD) for a predoctoral FPU grant (FPU14-06798). Mariola Plazas is grateful to Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo for a post-doctoral grant (APOSTD/2018/014). Pietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politècnica de València for a post-doctoral contract (PAID-10-18) within the Programa de Ayudas de Investigación y Desarrollo initiative. Ana M Adalid-Martínez is grateful to the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidad of Spain for its support with a post-doctoral contract (PTA2015- 11502-I) within the Subprograma Personal Técnico de Apoyo initiative.

[EN] An essential step in many plant breeding programmes is the morphoagronomic phenotyping of the materials that are being developed, using standardized descriptors or, when not available, as it is the case of new crops, consensus guidelines to characterize them. Although many of the traits must be evaluated in the field, those related to the shape and size of leaves and fruits can be easily measured with specific software using digital pictures. This tool provides several advantages, including: 1) more accurate and objective measurements; 2) the possibility of measuring other traits of interest such as area or perimeter, that in other case would not be easily evaluated; or even 3) the possibility of delaying the analysis of pictures in order to focus on field traits. Therefore, the knowledge and management of this tool can become of high usefulness. The Plant Breeding Master offered by our institute is aimed at training professionals able to improve crops and develop new ones according to market trends, in addition to improve adaptation and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Due to the importance of phenotyping considering any of the above breeding goals, in this paper we propose the introduction of a practical session in the mandatory subject "Instrumental Techniques": the management and comparison of adequacy of two specific software tools considering the material to be analyzed. As material, we propose a collection of pepper varieties for analysis of fruits, and a collection of rocket (Eruca and Diplotaxis spp.) germplasm for analysis of leaves, due to the broad variability observed in those materials. The MorphoLeaf v1.0 software will be used for the analysis of leaves, and the Tomato Analyzer 3.0 software will be used for the analysis of fruits and also for leaves. According to the design of the practical lesson, only one session of three hours is required, in which students will learn to properly digitalize materials considering the restrictions of each software and material used, and to obtain all the information needed in each case. In addition, there will be one hour of autonomous work in which both tools and the results obtained will be compared by the students, and a report will be prepared. This practical lesson allows students to acquire the competence for the correct use of different computer tools in the phenotyping task. The comparison of analyses using different scan adjustments and software will allow students to understand the disadvantages of each option and problems that could occur, in order to minimize them. In summary, this practical lesson gives a tool for improving the future phenotyping works of students during their careers, teaching them to consider the best software prior to analysis in order to improve the digitalizing step according to software restrictions, and to obtain more accurate information with a reduction of working time, thus increasing efficiency., Carla Guijarro-Real is grateful to the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte of Spain for a predoctoral FPU grant (FPU14-06798). Pietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politècnica de València for a post-doctoral contract (PAID-10-18) within the Programa de Ayudas de Investigación y Desarrollo initiative. Mariola Plazas is grateful to Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo for a post-doctoral grant (APOSTD/2018/014). Ana M Adalid-Martínez is grateful to the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidad of Spain for its support with a post-doctoral contract (PTA2015- 11502-I) within the Subprograma Personal Técnico de Apoyo initiative.

[EN] Master studies provide post-graduate students with an advanced training for a career specialization. In Plant Science studies, practical lessons can become essential during the learning process. In fact, these lessons can be used as a tool for consolidating the knowledge acquired with the theoretical lessons. Moreover, during the practical lessons, students have the opportunity to apply this knowledge to real situations, and to identify and deal with real problems that can appear. Our Institute offers a Master in Plant Breeding in which the learning process through practical lessons is conceived as an essential complement for theoretical knowledge. The Master provides students with the competence of designing and performing breeding programs addressed to improve adaptation of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses, as well as to improve the nutritional and sensorial quality of crops. In plants, there are different families of molecules related to defense, adaptation and/or quality, thus the study of them is of great importance in many breeding programs. An example of compounds with high interest is the family of carotenoids. Carotenoids include a group of compounds with several functions in plants. Some carotenoids are accessory pigments for photosynthesis or precursors of the abscisic acid, offer protection against photooxidative damage, or confer color to flowers, fruits and coloured roots, among other functions. They are also bioactive compounds related to the preservation of human health. According to this combined interest of carotenoids for 1) improving health status and 2) improving tolerance of crops, we consider that future professionals in Plant Breeding would improve their skills by performing an appropriate analysis of these compounds. Thus, we propose the introduction of a new practical lesson in the mandatory subject "Instrumental Techniques" addressed to the evaluation of individual carotenoids by high performance liquid cromatography (HPLC). During the lesson, which will be completed in three sessions, students will perform all the steps for the analysis of carotenoids from different plant material: extraction, preparation of sample for the HPLC analysis, preparation of standards, and analysis of results. At the end of the lesson, students should be able to perform autonomous analyses of carotenoids, and to deal with real problems that can occur during the protocol. In summary, this practical lesson complements the advanced learning process of students and provides them with a specific competence for their future careers. Moreover, guidance during the use of the HPLC should provide students with a secondary specific competence that is the knowledge and application of this technique, which can be transferred to other molecules. Finally, the lesson can be adapted to other Plant related and Food Technology studies., Carla Guijarro-Real is grateful to the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte of Spain for financial support by means of a predoctoral FPU grant (FPU14-06798). Mariola Plazas is grateful to Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo for financial support by means of a post-doctoral grant (APOSTD/2018/014).

[EN] Modern consumers concern about the influence of diet in maintaining the health status. As consequence, Plant Breeding has included the enhancement of nutritional quality as a new goal in many programs. However, not all the bioactive molecules are equally stable, and the degradation by human body and bioavailability of different molecules can differ greatly. In this sense, understanding of chemistry and degradation of different nutritional compounds can become essential to address this issue, as a guide to increase efforts in the enhancement of the most stable target molecules. Thus, professionals must be able to develop and perform specific nutritional analyses in their breeding programs. Master studies are conceived as specialization studies for post-graduates, addressed to increase the knowledge and experience of future professionals. Thus, design of the educational programs should be such as to provide students with the specific competences needed during their careers. Our Institute offers a Master in Plant Breeding that includes the acquisition of specific competences by means of the development of practical lessons. Practical lessons are of paramount importance to understand and fix the knowledge exposed during the theoretical lessons, and are also conceived as a tool for students to gain experience and deal with real problems in their professional careers. As part of our educational program, we propose in this paper the introduction of a new practical lesson in the subject "Breeding for quality": the simulation of a digestion process in vitro for the analysis of bioavailability of target biomolecules. The lesson is designed to be developed during three sessions, in the course of which students will perform all the steps for this type of analyses. Steps include the preparation of samples and analysis of material prior to the digestion, the simulation of the digestion process in vitro, and the analysis of the digested material and evaluation of results. The lesson is designed to be performed by pairs, since we consider that this methodology facilitates the learning process, using different fruits and vegetables. In addition, during the last part of the lesson, students will be asked to share the experience and results with the class. Students' explanations will have special focus on any problems derived from the treatment of matrix and target molecules, allowing the discussion of these problems and possible solutions provided by students and educator. Finally, a one-minute test will be included in order to evaluate the acquisition of knowledge related to the key aspects of the lesson. At the end of the lesson, students should be able to perform an analysis of the bioavailability of different target biomolecules after a simulated digestion in vitro. The aim of this lesson is to understand that different bioactive compounds suffer different degradation grades. This knowledge will help future professionals to select the most promising and stable target molecules for starting breeding and food nutrition programs focused to enhance nutritional quality. Moreover, the lesson can be easily adapted to other Master studies related to Food Technology or even Human health studies, increasing specific competences for students in these fields as well., Carla Guijarro-Real is grateful to the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte of Spain for financial support by means of a predoctoral FPU grant (FPU14-06798).