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.
Evaluation of food-human interactions following the events occurring i...
Coordinator
Development and application of advanced analytical procedures to assess the quality of relevant food product categories in the national context and corresponding analogues implemented according to task 4.1.1 and 4.1.2
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).
Development of at least five novel foodomic methods to implement nutritional characterization of foods (M28)
Evaluation of the bioavailability and bioactivity of at least two components of foods proven to directly impact human health (M36)
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)
The human gut microbiota has received considerable interest in the recent years. The modification in the composition and function of the gut microbiota can change intestinal permeability, digestion and metabolism as well as immune responses. The pro inflammatory state caused by alternation of gut microbiota balance leads to the onset of many diseases ranging from gastrointestinal and metabolic conditions to immunological and neuropsychiatric diseases. Understanding the relationship between food and the gut microbiota, their interactions, and how each modulates the other is critical for successful promotion of human health. Furthermore, the effect of digested food on enterocytes, especially its potential to promote an inflammatory condition, needs to be further deciphered. A global approach and "ad hoc" methodologies that evaluate the effect of food on the gastrointestinal environment are of fundamental importance for the development of a healthy diet.
The reciprocal interactions between foods and the gut microbiota will be assessed using an in vitro model of gut fermentation. After in vitro digestion, the effect of colon microbiota fermentation of food will be mimicked using an in vitro intestinal model of the proximal colon (MICODE – Multiunit in vitro colon model). The shifts of the microbial populations will be evaluated by qPCR and the metabolic activities of gut microorganism will be assessed measuring their volatile metabolites (VOCs) by SPME-GC-MS.
Then, the digested and fermented extracts will be used in cultured enterocytes to evaluate their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potentials, and their effect on the intestinal permeability. To this purpose, intestinal cells will be grown on a polyester (PET) membrane insert (Trans well) for 21 days, and then supplemented with the highest not toxic concentration of the digested/fermented extracts. The modulation of intestinal permeability will be evaluated by measuring the modification of the trans-epithelial electric resistance of the cell monolayer compared to not supplemented cells.
The global evaluation of the effect of foods on the intestinal environment could allow the formulation and production of foods with particular health characteristics. In fact, this evaluation will guide the formulation of new products with low inflammatory/high antioxidant potential and with a positive impact on the intestinal microbiota. The results obtained could be used to inform consumers.
