LWV22199 BioMarker ID: A novel approach for rapid identification of bio-active metabolites in complex samples (BO-67-001-027)

The project will deliver a generic smart technology to quickly and efficiently assess the flavour and health potential of plant, food or feed products, and shall enable rapid identification of the phytochemicals that are responsible for any observed bioactivities. This will be achieved through a direct coupling of bioactivity screening receptomics, and mass spectrometry-based metabolomics platforms, in combination with a trained algorithm to automatically link the omics data sets in order to identify the key bioactive compound(s). This novel approach will be developed and tested using contrasting health and flavour-related bioactive samples from the commercial partners. In parallel, a portable biosensing instrument will be tested and optimized which lower the cost and makes it more accessible for academia or industry to use. This novel technological approach is generic and can be used, for example, by plant breeders to select new cultivars with improved flavour and health characteristics, by farmer support systems to optimize cattle rearing or crop growth conditions, for food and feed industries to control and improve the bioactivity (quality) of their products. Moreover, the developed technology will also greatly support scientific research aiming to help elucidating the role of food composition on human and animal health.