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.
Sustainable food design to improve targeted population's health
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).
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).
Selection of raw materials/ingredients with improved nutritional characteristics and limited undesirable components (M12)
Development or implementation of at least two reformulated food products for each food category relevant for the impact on general and at-risk groups (M36)
Identification of selected biomolecules to evaluate personalised nutrition interventions (M24)
Definition of personalised/precision sustainable dietary patterns based on measurable factors (M24)
Quality by design: innovation in food design concept to be applied to different benchmark products (n=4 prototypes) (M24)
The well-known Food Design approach is aimed at improving nutritional and hedonistic characteristics of food. Nowadays, the new Food Design trend takes advantages of a transdisciplinary approach where food-technology, agronomy, food chemistry, nutrition, design, digital engineering, anthropology, gastronomy, social sciences, and geography work as a whole to find innovative design solutions for a healthy, sustainable food. The increase of incidence of non-communicable diseases, the scarcity of the Planet resources, as stressed by the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy, arises the need to rethink our way or farming and eating and a new approach to food production. In the citrus industry, oranges are very known for their huge consumption, and the production of orange juice can lead to important amounts of peel wastes. Orange peel can represent a reliable source of bioactive compounds with a wide range of health benefits. The valorization of orange byproducts could be processed for bioactive compound extraction and isolation for their use as food additives and/or nutraceuticals.
In this view, some ingredients, such as whole grain cereals naturally enriched of micronutrients, or orange peel could be an interesting material to design new healthy and sustainable food. Moreover, some population groups such as women, vulnerable subjects, and people at risk of cardiovascular diseases can be considered interesting targets to whom address these new foods.
The new food design’s methodology, based on innovative food technologies techniques, with the support of designers and anthropologists, will contribute to the project with new healthy and sustainable foods for these different targets: a) women in childbearing age, preconceptional period and in pregnancy, b) subjects at risk of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and with one CVD event; c)subjects affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (in collaboration with spoke 7).
Operational plan will foresee as follows:
