Influence of processing on the microstructure, nutrient retention and bioaccessibility characteristics of plant based food model systems.

Bioactive components are often occluded inside cell organelles, bound to cell walls, located in natural cellular compartments or present as nutrient-matrix complexes. They need at first to be released from the food matrix (bioaccessibility) before possible absorption in the intestine (bioavailability). During food processing (often a sequence of a mechanical structure enabling step followed by a preservation step), the amount of bioactive components might change as well as the food microstructure. Although it has been recently highlighted that food microstructure influences nutrient bioaccessibility, scientific insight in the relationship between processing conditions, food microstructure and nutrient bioaccessibility is completely missing. The current project proposal aims to gain insight in and quantify the relation between food microstructure of plant matrices and bioaccessibility of carotenoids in plant based model foods, including the effect of processing on both aspects. The innovative character lies in the mechanistic and quantitative multidisciplinary studies of the influence of processing on the microstructure, nutrient retention and bioaccessibility of plant based food model systems. The resulting qualitative and quantitative understanding paves the way for future valorization of the generic research findings.The current project proposal combines the expertise of the Laboratory of Food Technology (KULeuven) on food processing and nutrient degradation and -bioaccessibility, with the expertise of the Laboratory of Applied Rheology and Polymer Processing (KULeuven) on fundamental structural characterization of microstructured materials.

Keywords:Food processing, carotenoids, fruits and vegetables, food microstructure, rheology, bio-accessibility

Disciplines:Other chemical sciences, Nutrition and dietetics, Agricultural animal production, Food sciences and (bio)technology