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.
Massive isolation and identification of contaminants from plant-based ...
Coordinator
Innovative mitigation measures to reduce the risks through the application of bacterial pathogens challenges in food models. Tailored fermentation processes, based on QPS microorganisms (i.e., biocontrol agents, lactic acid bacteria, non-conventional yeasts, symbiotic culture of microorganisms) and hydrolysed food matrices, will be set-up and integrated in traditional food production protocols to increase food safety. Selected natural antimicrobials (e.g., essential oils) and hydrolysed raw matrices will be used to inactivate pathogens at food processing, storage, and retail levels.
New breeding techniques like genome editing will be used to produce customised safety food and to generate lines with an improved nutritional profile covering both compounds with beneficial properties and reducing anti-nutritional components. Biotechnological processes will be used to eliminate toxic compounds to produce new food/beverages from novel substrates. Tailored (bio)technological approaches will be set up to valorise alternative protein sources (i.e., cricket powder, micro- and macro-algae, single cell proteins, and yeast biomasses, agri-food and fishery by-products, insect-based foods. Set- up of a safe system of cellular agriculture for the development of novel food, like cultured meat and cheese in connection with Spoke 2 and 4)
Protective bacterial and phage cultures
Protocol for the development of novel and innovative food/beverages (M36)
Development of cultured meat and cheese products and identification of safety risks in production process (M36)
The consumption of plant-based foods is exponentially growing. The reasons are various and mainly related to sustainability, public health, diet preferences and animal welfare. The rapid and recent growth of the plant-based market has opened the possibility of exploring new scientific niches.
While the microbiological quality and safety of animal-derived foods has been subject of many investigations, little is known about the microbiological risks and safety of plant-derived foods (Tóth AJ et al., Appl. Sci. 2021). Raw materials collected from the field and used in the preparation of plant-derived ingredients are exposed to a high risk of contamination pre- and post-harvesting. In particular, contamination may occur during the industrial manufacturing of plant-based food products.
The experimental plan would include the following steps:
Construction of a spoilage culture collection containing bacteria, yeasts and moulds frequently found in plant-based products. Identification of food cultures with protective effects active against the spoilage isolates. Demonstrating the increased safety and shelf-life in the plant-based ingredients or products.
