Latest QCD results from the ALICE experiment

ALICE is the LHC experiment dedicated to the study of heavy-ion collisions. Its features also make it an ideal detector for QCD studies in pp collisions. Thanks to its excellent particle identification capabilities and low material budget, ALICE can measure hadron and lepton production over a wide momentum range both in pp and in Pb–Pb collisions. In this paper, we review recent QCD results, focusing, in particular, on charged-particle multiplicity density, strange particle production, particle ratios, identified particle spectra and heavy flavours in pp collisions at $\sqrt {s}$ = 0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV. Results on these observables and on elliptic flow will also be presented for Pb–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_NN}$=2.76 TeV.