Project

Call for Partners | PROMOTE – Protein-fibre interaction to promote gut and metabolic health

Dietary fibre and protein are important macronutrient determinants of food healthiness. However, not all fibre and protein are created equal and complex interactions between them occur in the gastrointestinal tract. Healthy whole food plant-based diets are high in (in)soluble fiber and fiber complexity, commonly feature a lower overall protein digestibility than animal-derived proteins, yet are positively associated with gut and metabolic health. Creating scientific knowledge on fibre-protein interaction during digestion and fermentation enables future formulated foods to be healthier and more sustainable.

The aim of this project is to identify optimal sources and combinations of (in)soluble fibre and protein to:

  • Optimize digestibility
  • Stimulate a healthy microbiota composition; supporting production of health-promoting metabolites, while preventing production of metabolites with adverse health effects (e.g. ammonia and hydrogen sulfide)
  • Support a healthy intestinal immune environment, through e.g. gut barrier function, mucus production and AHR activation
  • Increase beneficial gut hormone production related to metabolic health

Several techniques will be applied to investigate the interaction between protein and fibre during digestion and fermentation. Whole foods or minimally processed fractions rich in protein and fibre as well as combinations of protein and fibre ingredients with high purity will be digested in vitro using the consensus Infogest protocol. In addition, whole foods could be separated into well characterized fractions and included in digestions and follow-up experiments to get more insights into effects of specific cell wall polysaccharides and lignin.

The next step will be in vitro fermentation using high-throughput fermentations, followed by batch or SHIME fermentations of promising ingredient combinations. Metabolomics will be combined with cell and/or organoid assays to investigate the eventual impact on intestinal immunity and gut hormones. Optionally, metabolite profiles could be linked to health effects described in literature using AI methodologies.

Partners

We are looking for companies that are interested in developing knowledge and build on scientific evidence on healthy and sustainable plant-based food formulations and/or ingredients. Next to food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers, we also welcome providers of relevant analytical or omics techniques such as metabolomics, transcriptomics or (microbiome) genomics.