Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Development of functional legume-based foods and ingredients through f...
Coordinator
Identification of nutrient and non-nutrient food components (and their metabolic products) potentially involved in the promotion of consumer health, and evaluation of their bio accessibility, bioavailability, and effect on the gut microbiota, using in silico, in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo approaches on humans/animals to confirm the actual absorption and bioactivity of non-nutrient components also considering specific dietary patterns and target groups.
Evaluation of food-human interactions following the events occurring in the gastrointestinal milieu by both in vitro and in vivo approaches and elucidation of the impact of new foods and corresponding benchmarks.
Prototyping of new sustainable and healthy products to meet consumer needs in terms of nutritional and functional targets, but also sensory characteristics and convenience, thus increasing adoption in the long term by promoting exploitation of the previous implemented approaches (see WP4.1, WP4.2) to develop new pilot food products (food design) also in connection with start-up acceleration programmes (activities are also in connection with Spoke 3).
Scaling up of the most promising prototypes and validation of concepts from small to large scale, also in connection with start-up acceleration programmes.
Evaluation of the bioavailability and bioactivity of at least two components of foods proven to directly impact human health (M36)
Identification of novel food-derived compounds (and their metabolic products) in human body fluids/tissues that are associated with a putative bioactivity and/or a possible health effect (M30)
Elucidation of the interaction between the selected foods (and benchmarks) and the intestinal milieu (M30)
Evaluation of the impact of relevant new foods on microbial ecosystem and host response (M36)
Scouting and evaluation of existing prototypes of sustainable and healthy products (M12)
Quality by design: innovation in food design concept to be applied to different benchmark products (n=4 prototypes) (M24)
Proof of concept and scale up of at least one promising food product (M36)
Evaluation of feasibility of new products in real context (M36)
The design and development of plant-based fermented foods and beverages are receiving growing attention for their nutritive and health-promoting properties and because they are low-cost and more sustainable dairy alternatives. Legumes are a natural source of bioactive compounds such as oligosaccharides, resistant starch, polyphenols, and isoflavones. Fermentation of legumes or process waste may be a strategy to develop innovative, healthy, nutritious and sustainable foods/ingredients with a high protein content suitable for lactose intolerant, celiac, and diabetic consumers. Fermentation can affect the content of bioactive molecules, such as vitamins, phenols, bioactive peptides and anti-nutrients possibly improving nutrient digestibility and bioavailability; it can also impact some technological properties that are fundamental in food formulation, such as emulsifying and foaming.
The research will include the following activities.
1) Design & development (lab scale) of pro- and/or post-biotic foods/ingredients through:
literature data collection and in silico database creation of legume-based bioactive compounds;
selection and characterization of the optimal fermenting microorganisms for each legume and legume-based substrate (wastes from legume processing); optimization of lab-scale protocols for fermentation and stabilization.
2) Evaluation of technological properties.
3) In silico simulations to identify the structure-activity relationships and the key interacting features against macromolecular targets; in vitro studies to evaluate the bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds, specific bio-activities on selected intestinal cell models, the effects on the gut microbiome and its metabolites by a Simulator of Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME).
4) Scaling up (pre-industrial, 400 L).
1. Selection of microorganisms able to provide optimal growth and metabolic activity in the investigated legume-based media.
2. Definition of standardized fermentation protocols to be adopted for each strain and matrix, which guarantee the achievement of high bacterial charge and kinetics, a significant reduction in antinutrient compounds, and production of bioactive compounds during the process (that are preserved after the stabilizing processes of thermal deactivation and spray drying).
3. Pro- and postbiotic fermented products with validated technological and biological properties including the effect on gut microbiome.
4. Confirmation of the lab-scale process and product performances, using a pre-industrial scale apparatus.
5. Identification of the crucial structural features required for biological activity.
