As a consequence of the production of high-yielding cereal varieties per hectare and the considerable increase in gluten consumption, today, consequently, we face a rising epidemic of disorders related to gluten consumption: celiac disease, gluten allergy gluten sensitivity. Nutritional therapy is the only treatment for celiac disease unanimously accepted by the medical community. The aim of the study is to analyze the food and nutritional security of people with disorders related to gluten consumption from the perspective of assessing the nutritional deficiencies of people diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, but also assessing the nutritional deficiencies of gluten-free products. The study on the assessment of nutritional deficiencies of people with disorders related to gluten consumption, but also the nutritional deficiencies of gluten-free products/diets were conducted on the PubMed search engine. 154 free full text papers published in the period 2010-2020 were analyzed, according to the keywords (gluten free, diet, deficiencies). Specialists in the field are unanimous in the opinion that increasing nutritional security and ensuring sustainability can be achieved by: diversifying gluten-free products; extension of legislation to strengthen gluten-free products; developing educational strategies focused on the relationship between nutrients, food and human health; informing the population and optimizing services in order to increase the quality of life and health. However, the design of GF products, both technologically and nutritionally, especially bakery/pastry, pasta is still a challenge, and research in this area, is current and required.

The Technical University of Moldova (TUM) is the only state-accredited technical higher education institution in the Republic of Moldova. In the face of the magnitude of the health crisis, TUM had to quickly adapt its mode of operation to ensure the continuity of its activities and to accompany its students in the study process in an efficient way. In this paper, we analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on eLearning and on the use of Moodle and Microsoft 365 educational platforms, implemented at the Technical University of Moldova. The data were exported from M365 Usage Report in excel format for a period of 180 days (from 15.02.2020 to 15.08.2020) and from the Moodle database for a period of about 210 days (period 31.12.2019-31.07.2020). Those intervals include the pre-pandemic period, the lockdown period and the student holiday period. The aim of the research was to analyze the potential of the university to continue and ensure the online education process internally, to share the lived experience, the measures taken to anticipate the widening of the digital divide, but also for the identification of vulnerabilities and reasoned planning of exit strategies, in an appropriate frame of reference, depending on subsequent developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Technical University of Moldova anticipated and undertook multiple measures that demonstrated the potential to ensure the continuity and good development of the teaching process during the pandemic by: reducing the digital divide; reducing the risks of inequalities in education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; ensuring the social binder

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Food security is an important lever for the implementation of rights-based legislation, policies, and programs, while being a public health and socio-economic priority. Foodborne illnesses have a major impact on public health, and nutritional interventions are essential therapeutic strategies to combat them. Gluten ingestion has been linked to several clinical disorders, collectively called gluten-related disorders. The most serious of these is celiac disease. The only way to treat celiac disease is to stick to a gluten-free diet for life. Following a strict diet is also the only way to prevent the long-term consequences of the disease. Public policies are essential to ensure the food security of people with gluten-related disorders. The aim of the research is to assess the level of care for people with celiac disease in the Republic of Moldova, in terms of public policies, to ensure a sustainable sector that effectively satisfies the food security of people with disorders associated with gluten consumption. To assess the level of care for people with gluten-related disorders, the working algorithm was taken, with reference to global public policies in support of people with celiac disease, developed and validated by Falcomer et al., Focused on 6 items. The results of the study showed that the Republic of Moldova does not have adequate policy support to ensure food security for people with gluten-related disorders, which poses major challenges and, as a result, may increase the complications of these problems.

Cereals and cereal products are the basic element in ensuring the food security of the population. Most cereal-based foods contain gluten. Nutritional therapy is the only treatment for people with gluten-related disorders. No gluten-free products are manufactured in the Republic of Moldova, and the imported ones are sold at very high prices. In this context, Moldova is an unexplored field and research is required. The paper investigated the impact of hydrothermal treatments on whole grains and sorghum groats. It was found that whole grains and sorghum groats have a cooking time of about 130 and 40 minutes, respectively, which can be reduced by about 2 times by prior hydration in water. Hydration media and their concentrations (NaCl solutions; sol. NaHCO3 and C6H8O7 concentrations 0.5%; 1.0% and 2.0%) differently influence the cooking time, mass, volume and firmness of the grains.

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The research focused on studying the impact of sourdough with spontaneous flora (SSF) (obtained also from gluten-free flour) and artizanal technologies on the quality indices of cozonac — a traditional pastry product. Physico-chemical and microbiological indices were analyzed, as well as glycemic index (GI) of cozonac samples with different fermentation agents. The experimental results showed that the GI of the cozonac samples have similar values, being between GI = 68 and GI = 71. Respectively, cozonac with SSF samples can be classified in the category of foods with moderate GI, and cozonac with commercial yeast (CY) — in the category of foods with high GI. Digestibility indices for all samples reached values between 72% and 76%. The sensory profiles of baked cozonacs were analyzed descriptively by the panel members, and the results showed that all cozonac samples were characterized by slightly acid taste, with specific and pleasant flavors.However, it seems that a long fermentation of the dough, even if CY is used as a fermenting agent, leads to the formation of quality indices of the dough and cozonac, very close to the products obtained only with SSF. The use of SSF from sorghum flour would be an alternative in the development of gluten free bakery and pastry products using artisanal technologies.