Teaching chemistry of natural products to young students: “Verão Ciência no IPB” case study

For some years the BioChemCore research group of School of Agriculture, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), has conducted several one-week internships for young students in college, inserted in the program "Verão Ciência no IPB" (science summer in the IPB). These small courses aim to disseminate various aspects of the research conducted by our group, which include chemistry of natural products, nutraceuticals and functional foods, technology of natural products, and medicinal chemistry. In this case study, brief information was provided on all these topics, but highlighting the chemistry of natural products. This manuscript reports the assays, theory and goals achieved by the students enrolled in the internship, covering various aspects of chemistry and biochemistry, antioxidant activity. and finally the research on some bioactive molecules through high performance liquid chromatography. Although the receptiveness and motivation of students was high the details of the explanations were basic and (adjusted to their level of understanding) easy to comprehend. This yearly internship has been very successful over the various editions of the program, with an increasing number of students applying for it.