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HEIndividual fellowship2023–2025

EVALUATOR · EVALUation of heAlthy-susTainable fOod pRoteins

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2023-06-01 → 2025-09-30
EU contribution
€213,071
Participants
2
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

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Results in brief

EVALUation of heAlthy-susTainable fOod pRoteins

Access to healthy and sustainable foods is an existential priority as recognized by the UN, WHO, and EU. Replacing animal-based proteins with their plant-based counterparts or even with other potential (more sustainable) ingredients is expected to be a major step forward. In order to speed up this transition, methods need to become available to allow for high throughput evaluation of ingredients, in terms of technical functionality that rules food properties, and physiological functionality that ultimately decides on effects taking place in the body. The EVALUATOR project focusses on ingredient properties in colloidal emulsions (oil (droplets)-dispersed in-water systems), for which a tailor-made microfluidic platform was applied to dynamically assess technical emulsion stability (ingredient ability to form and stabilize the droplets) and digestibility. The microfluidic platform allows real-time investigation at micro- and nano- meter levels, the scales at which basic food structure elements are formed and degraded, and within very short time spans mimicking natural process conditions via high-speed recording. With this, the EVALUATOR project not only led to the design of healthier and greener food systems but also supply a versatile microfluidic platform that allows design from first principles, i.e., the actual ingredient properties as they are relevant for food production and digestion. This brings food design, that currently revolves around trial and error, into a completely different realm, and even more important, establishes the currently missing link between technological functionality and digestion. All of the above is highly relevant from a scientific perspective, but not only that, the use of these tiny devices may also have a broader and larger impact. By using the microfluidic platform, ingredient screening can be done with small sample sizes and reduced amount of chemicals, making a substantial contribution to environmental sustainability and the exploration of novel food sources.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Access to healthy and sustainable foods is an existential priority as recognized by the UN, WHO, and EU. Replacing animal-basedproteins with their plant-based counterparts is expected to be a major step forward, due to a 2-8 fold (depending onthe species) increase in protein efficiency. In order to speed up this protein transition, methods need to become available toallow for high-throughput evaluation of protein ingredients, in terms of technical functionality that rules food properties, andphysiological functionality that ultimately decides on effects taking place in the body.The EVALUATOR project focusses on plant protein properties in colloidal emulsion systems, for which a tailor-mademicrofluidic platform will be developed to dynamically assess technical emulsion stability and digestibility. For this, wechoose to work with pea and bean proteins that are readily available at low cost within the EU. The microfluidic platformallows real-time investigation at micro and nanometre levels, the scales at which basic food structure elements are formedand degraded, and within very short time spans through high-speed recording, therewith closely mimicking the actualprocess conditions.EVALUATOR will not only lead to the design of healthier and greener food systems but also supply a versatile microfluidicplatform that allows design from first principles, i.e., the actual protein properties as they are relevant for food production anddigestion. This brings food design, that currently revolves around trial and error, into a completely different realm, and evenmore importantly, establishes the currently missing link between technological functionality and digestion.The key for success is the combination of my background in microfluidic design and digestion, that of the hosts in emulsions(WUR, The Netherlands) and the secondment (INRAE, France) in advanced digestive systems, which allows me to cover allaspects of the EVALUATOR project in a ground-breaking way.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY · WageningenCoordinatorNetherlands
  • INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE POUR L'AGRICULTURE, L'ALIMENTATION ET L'ENVIRONNEMENT · ParisFrance

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union