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.
Estimation of the slowly digestible starch intake for the italian popu...
Coordinator
Reformulation or improvement of relevant food products in the national context in order to: a) implement the nutritional characteristics also by reducing antinutrients or using bioprocessed ingredients (from raw products to ingredients) and limit the use of undesirable components (e.g. by using bioactives) along the food system b) improve food formulation and composition based on consumer perception and needs identified for specific target groups (in connection with Spoke 5 and 6) c) promote clear and ad hoc labelling as an information tool (in connection with Spoke 1 and 7) to increase the willingness to buy improved foods d) guarantee safety and affordability of new products (in connection with Spoke 1 and 3).
Development and validation of sustainable models of personalised/precision nutrition based on anthropometric, demographic, nutritional status, lifestyle habits, perceptive characteristics, psychosocial, metabolic response, genetic and metagenetic characteristics, also developing predictive tools for the identification of specific phenotypes and appropriate intervention strategies. Tasks include the definition and validation of improved dietary patterns to cover individual nutritional needs through sustainable and affordable foods/preparations (in connection with Spoke 1, 5 and 7) and the development of tools for the prediction at individual level of the metabolic, psychosocial, and physiological response to food intake (in connection with Spoke 6).
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.
Selection of raw materials/ingredients with improved nutritional characteristics and limited undesirable components (M12)
Identification and mapping of specific target groups (M12)
Evaluation of the bioavailability and bioactivity of at least two components of foods proven to directly impact human health (M36)
Evaluation of the impact of relevant new foods on microbial ecosystem and host response (M36)
Diet characterized by foods exerting a low glycemic excursion may elicit a protective effect on chronic and non-communicable diseases. A cause-effect relationship has been established by EFSA (2011) between the consumption of starchy foods presenting at least 40% of available starch as slowly digestible starch (SDS) and reduced post-prandial glycemic responses. Therefore, SDS may represent a useful tool to characterize starch-based products. This could be useful also in gluten-free diets, often characterized by a higher GI food than their gluten-containing counterparts.
The aims of this project are to: a) to estimate the SDS intake from different starch-based food categories for the Italian population; b) to investigate the association between SDS consumption and postprandial glycemic responses to foods, the improvement of clinical parameters (anthropometric value as body composition and laboratory values), variation on gut microbiota composition, proteomics and metabolomics analyses.
For each starch-based food category considered, the prepacked products mainly sold in Italy (selected after a market analysis) will be collected and SDS content analysed applying a validated in vitro approach. A dataset on SDS content will be created and the estimation of the SDS exposure will be assessed, based on the consumption data. Moreover, the impact of potential food reformulation on SDS increase in starchy foods and related dietary exposure will be estimated.
Patients affected by overweight/obesity and or metabolic syndrome or celiac patients will be enrolled to investigate their eating habits. Dietary personalized plans (with an increasing % of SDS) will be proposed, and the population will be divided in two or three arms according to the sample size. Longitudinal analysis of anthropometric values, body composition, laboratory values, gut microbiota composition, proteomics and metabolomics will be conducted. Possible association between these variables will be investigated.
The expected results of this project are:
