Overview: This research theme addresses one of the most important scientific challenges for optimising the nutritional value of sustainable foods, by unpacking what happens to the nutrients in food during processing and gastrointestinal digestion. Crucially, this theme will integrate advanced computational and mathematical modelling, human clinical studies and microbiome science with food structure and digestion science to provide advanced knowledge. This research theme will completely transform current food design processes and food dietary guidelines, and ultimately give rise to a range of high value healthy foods.
There are five research projects under this theme:
Project 1.1: Food structure design – the fundamentals.
Project leaders Prof Matt Golding, Prof Geoff Jameson and Dr David Everett
The fundamentals of food structures project seeks to utilise the intrinsic relationship between food structure assembly, product properties and performance towards the design and development of enhanced food systems.
Project 1.2: Food structure modification in the digestive tract.
Project leaders Dist Prof Harjinder Singh, Prof Gail Bornhorst and Dr Alejandra Acevedo-Fani
This project aims to enhance our fundamental understanding of the structural dynamics of complex food systems and the subsequent interactions of food components during the gastrointestinal transit. MRI imaging will validate the findings and help inform predictive models of structure modification to ascertain the conditions for optimal nutrition.