Projects - Q (Qing) Ren

The role of dairy products in nutrition and health goes beyond being a source of protein. They are also a supplier of many bioactive components. A case in point is the diverse peptides in dairy products, which may have multiple bioactive functions. The nutrition characteristics and health-promoting potentials of dairy products is determined by multiple factors, including source of milk, processing, etc. Here we would like to characterize the nutrition characters of its products and to explore potential health benefits of products in relation to bioactive peptides using in vitro models. The activities in this project could serve as a foundation in future deep-dive studies of understanding and displaying of health benefits of Mengniu’s products.

The overall objective of this research project is to characterize the nutrition characters of dairy products and ingredients to identify bioactive proteins and peptides in these samples before and after digestion. This will be determined by quantifying the degree of protein digestion after different types of dairy processing using an in vitro static digestion model. Next, we will also identify and quantify the bioactive milk proteins, including their disappearance during digestion, as well as the formation of bioactive peptides. To investigate which of those peptides may be able to cross the epithelial barrier, an in vitro Caco-2 intestinal cell model will be used.