Healthy Structuring

 
   
 

Nutritional and Structural Design of Natural Foods for Health and Vitality

The starting point of Healthy Structuring is epidemiological studies suggesting that the consumption of high levels of fruit and vegetables may reduce the risk for chronic diseases, including cancer and atherosclerosis, but few people manage to reach the recommended daily intake of 600 gram. More attractive ready-to-eat products could contribute to an increased consumption, and a high bioavailability of key nutrients in these products could contribute to the beneficial health effects.

This project focuses on the technological dimension of this problem and aims at integrated solutions for the production of processed ready-to-eat foods based on fruits and vegetables that look, taste, feel and function very much like the untreated raw materials (freshness character), resulting in safe products with improved sensory properties and optimal bioavailability of key nutrients.

These solutions will be based on integrating the effects of processing and product formulation on structure, texture, enzyme-induced modifications and nutitional quality throughout the production chain. This will be achieved through

i) the identification of growth and storage conditions providing optimal raw materials

ii) the development of innovative processing solutions that provide safe and stable foods with optimal nutrient content and a pleasing texture with minimal need for repeated heat treatments and additives to provide structure

iii) design of fruit and vegetable mixtures with optimal structural and nutritional functionalities after processing, and finally

iv) the production of healthy products. These products will be compared with conventional existing alternatives through evaluation for bioavailability of nutrients and sensory perception of consumers. Real food products based on tomato, carrot and broccoli will serve as vehicles of study throughout the project.

The results will be widely disseminated to relevant stakeholders, with special emphasis on SMEs.

Project objective(s)

Overall objective:
The overall objective of Healthy Structuring is to formulate validated processing solutions to improve the sensory, nutritional and structural qualities of ready-to-eat fruit and vegetable products with optimal health benefits, while maintaining product safety.

Specific objectives:

  • To monitor plant tissue composition, microbiology, mechanical properties and structure at different scales of length as modified by storage and growing conditions. (WP1)
     

  • To identify processing solutions that allow the production of healthier single ingredient products from raw materials characterised in WP1 by preserving the natural endogenous nutritional content and its (bio)availability while assuring safety as well as stability and freshness in terms of structure and texture. (WP2)
     

  • To evaluate and quantify the structural and nutritional functionality of selected mixtures of fruit and vegetable based on the recommendations from WP1 and WP2 in model food formulations. (WP3)
     

  • To manufacture food products based on the results from WPs 1, 2 and 3. To evaluate bioavailability, bioefficacy and biochemical parameters in human subjects and to evaluate the physiological relevance of in vitro models for investigating bioavailability. To evaluate the sensory perception of the products. (WP4)
     

  • To disseminate the project results to relevant stakeholders, especially to SMEs. (WP5)

Project strategy:

The overall objectives and specific objectives are translated in the following strategy at project level:

 

In WP1 the effects of agronomic and storage conditions on carrots, tomatoes and broccoli will be determined with respect to macro- and micro-structural morphological characteristics, chemistry/biochemistry and nutrient composition, mechanical properties and microbiological safety. The output will be a database for classification of the raw material, recommendations concerning optimal production conditions, and logistics for the provision of suitable raw material for the project.

WP2 will study the effects of alternative mechanical and thermal pre-treatments in combination with different thermal processes on the kinetics of nutrient retention and bioavailability, structural aspects, food quality related enzymes and microbial inactivation. The output will be validated mathematical models for predicting nutritional losses, texture and enzyme inactivation during processing as well as a validated processing concept.

WP3 will cover all aspects of formulation, processing and safety, quality and predictive modelling of the model food systems. The outcome will be the choice of products to be tested in WP4 including i) reference food products developed using conventional methods, ii) two optimised multi-ingredient products developed using the results from WP1 and WP2. A quantitative structure-material properties model for particulate food systems will be developed.

In WP4 the reference and the optimised food products chosen in WP3 will be manufactured and the nutritional bioavailability, bioefficacy and biochemical parameters will be evaluated in in vitro models and in human subjects. The human studies will recruit 88 healthy grown ups with previous low fruit and vegetable consumption. The study consists of two test periods of 4 weeks with a 4 week wash-out period in between. The reference and the test products will be distributed in a randomized order and served once per day as lunch or dinner. Blood samples will be taken from the subjects four times during the study and analysed for content of key nutrients. The main influence of the study on the subjects is likely to be an increased intake of food based on fruits and vegetables and no negative effects are foreseen. The sensory properties will be evaluated through a questionnaire. The outcome of this workpackage will be data on the effects of food formulations on the bioavailability of micronutrients and on the eating qualities. Guidelines for the production of fruit and vegetable products with potential health effects will be formulated.

Dissemination of project results to key stakeholders is crucial and the issue of WP5. The outcome will be a website, leaflets, an SME platform and workshops, as well as publications in peer reviewed journals and conference presentations.