The department continues the long tradition of education and training in the field of chemistry, which began at the first University of Agriculture and Forest Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague. Professors of prominence that have worked at the department include: Professor Jaroslav Formánek, (1912-1930), Professor Josef Žďárský (1920-1958), Professor Jaroslav Voříšek (1957-1965) and Professor Jaromír Hubáček (1946-1990).
Focus:
The department of chemistry of FAFNR is oriented to the education and research in the field of chemistry with particular focus on the chemistry of natural compounds in significant crops and food stuffs, contaminants in human living environments and food stuffs, wood chemistry, chemistry of fuels, lubricants and other specialised fields of applied chemistry.
Educational activity:
The Department of Chemistry teaches in all faculties of the CUA except the Faculty of Economics and Management. Teaching comprises general, inorganic, analytical and organic chemistry, biochemistry, wood chemistry and many applied chemical subjects. In English, the department delivers Environmental Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, in the framework of the study programme Natural Resources and Environment. (Socrates-Erasmus). The department also teaches the doctoral study programme, Agricultural Chemistry, this programme includes: Special Analytical Chemistry, Chemistry of Natural Compounds and Special Biochemistry of Plants and Animals.
Research activity:
Several research activities undertaken at the department are bound to research projects conducted by FAFNR. They include: the analyses of agricultural materials and products of trace elements, (methods of their determination). Changes of the content of polyphenols, flavonoids, polyhydroxyacids, glycosides, antinutritional compounds and essential oils in selected drug plants.
Agriculturally significant crops and foodstuffs, e.g. teas, fruit drinks and wines.
The determination and effect of pollutants and biostimulators important for certain important enzymes. The department monitors antioxidants of carotenoid, flavonoid, anthocyanidin and ascorbic acid types in selected kinds of vegetables and fruit, potatoes and cereals, study is focused on significant sources of these compounds in human nutrition. The investigation of biodegradable fuels and lubricants containing derivative rapeseed oil is another facet to the broad scope of this department. The Department of Chemistry houses the only laboratory in the Czech Republic dedicated to the particle analysis of exploited oils and the complex diagnostics of oils that aid the prevention of machine breakdowns.
International contacts:
The department cooperates with the following Czech and foreign institutions: the Research Milk Institute in Prague, the Research Institute of Crop Production, Prague-Ruzyně, the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Charles University Prague, the Institute of Endocrinology, the Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, the Institute of Experimental Botany, the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, J. Heyrovský, The Institute of Physical Chemistry, the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals, the Institute of Biophysics, the Institute of Microbiology, the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz, Warsaw Agricultural University, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the Universidad de Buenos Aires and ARMINES Paris.