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).

Task 4.2.1.

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

Task 4.2.2.

In depth characterization of the new products using different approaches (including omics techniques) to get their unique fingerprint (e.g., foodome evaluation) and to compare it to corresponding benchmark.

Task 4.4.1.

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).

Project deliverables

D4.1.1.1.

Selection of raw materials/ingredients with improved nutritional characteristics and limited undesirable components (M12)

D4.2.1.2.

Application of foodomic approaches for the assessment of composition parameters in at least one existing (M24), two reformulated (M32) and implemented (M36) products of each food category according to task 4.1.1. and 4.1.2.

D4.2.2.2.

Application of advanced analytical procedures for the assessment of composition parameters in at least one existing, reformulated and implemented product of each food category according to task 4.1.1. and 4.1.2. (M30)

D4.4.1.1.

Scouting and evaluation of existing prototypes of sustainable and healthy products (M12)

Interaction with other spokes

Spoke 03

Food safety of traditional and novel foods

Spoke 02

Smart and circular food system and distribution

State of the art

Fermented foods are defined as those foods or beverages produced through controlled microbial growth, and the conversion of food components through enzymatic action. Fermentation leads to an organoleptic change and favors the food conservation. Nowadays, the fermented food industry is aimed to develop new functional foods with improved nutritional and healthy properties and a longer shelf-life. In this context, metabolomics, i.e. the study of small molecules of a biological system, represents an important tool for the characterization of new fermented foods and for the study of their properties. NMR spectroscopy and FT-ICR MS allow to obtain in a single experiment a comprehensive characterization of an entire food matrix as a mixture of components without their separation. It is also possible to monitor a process, such as a fermentation process, to deeply understand how it does work and how it is possible its better exploitation.

Operation plan

The research will involve different activities as reported below.
1. Selection of fermented beverages or fermentation process to be investigated.
2. Beverage freeze-drying and storing at -20°C until the untargeted analysis.
3. NMR metabolomic characterization of the fermented beverage to identify and quantify the main class of secondary metabolites, such as sugars, organic acids, amino acids, etc.
4. FT-ICR MS analysis to maximize the coverage of the beverage chemical profile.
5. The HPLC-PDA analysis of targeted compound classes that are of interest for each selected beverage will be also performed.
6. In order to study the fermentation process, it is possible to repeat the sample analysis during the fermentation, quantifying the same metabolites as above.
7. Application of statistical analysis to find the diagnostic metabolites and investigate the fermentation process.

Expected results

1) Development of a metabolomics protocol to investigate different fermentation process.

2) Starting from the chemical profile, the elucidation of the microbial interaction existing in a symbiotic system will be carried out, in order to increase the reproducibility of the beverage production process and enhance its nutritional properties.

3) Preparation/Setup of a database of peculiar metabolites of fermented foods.