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Project

A new methodological approach to understand how structural barriers govern carotenoid bioaccessibility in plant based foods.

The general objective of the present research project is to understand how structural barriers govern carotenoid release and bioaccessibility in fruit and vegetable based food systems. Because research intended to unravel the underlying mechanisms that determine carotenoid bioaccessibility is hampered by using real food products, various plant dispersion model systems with well-characterised properties will be generated based on different fractions isolated from tomato and carrot tissue. The plant dispersion model systems will be build up by a (tomato or carrot) serum phase and a (tomato or carrot) particle phase containing the carotenoids. Structural barriers in both the serum and particle phase will be focus points. The general objective can be translated into two specific hypotheses: - The structural characteristics of pectin present in the serum phase play an important role in determining carotenoid bioaccessibility in fruit and vegetable based food products. - The localisation of carotenoids in plant based food products (i.e. the level of bio-encapsulation) determines to a large extent their bioaccessibility in fruit and vegetable based food products.
Date:1 Oct 2011 →  30 Sep 2012
Keywords:Bioaccessibility, Bio-encapsulation, Carotenoids, Pectin, Plant based foods, Structural barriers
Disciplines:Food sciences and (bio)technology