AF-15269 - Future Proteins: Nutritional quality and bio-functional activity after digestion (BO-62-001-012, BO-46-002-004, BO-24.06-001-011)

To this end, proteins from a variety of protein-suppliers will be analysed for their nutritional qualities and bio-functional properties on metabolism, gut health, and immunological tolerance induction, using state of the art in vitro and in vivo tools. These tools will subsequently be used to evaluate the impact of processing (such as heating) and/or digestion on the nutritional quality (contents of essential amino acids, degree of digestion, bio-availability) and the health effects (gut-barrier function, and/or interaction with intestinal immune cells) of the various proteins. In addition, the effectiveness of supplementations or mixtures of proteins and/or amino acids from different sources to optimise the nutritional and/or health quality will be investigated.

The overall objective of this project is to investigate the nutritional quality and bio-functional activity of proteins from sustainable and resource-efficient sources. Primarily in scope are the nutritional requirements, the protection of the gut-barrier function, and the promotion of immunologic tolerance. Comprehensive in vitro and in vivo analyses will be developed and combined in a systematic screening. This will result in a toolbox that will allow future research with emerging interesting proteins sources.