Webinar: Towards a vitality index? Predicting healthiness in food design

Modulating and mimicking intestinal functionality

Would you like to boost consumers' feeling of vitality by developing biofortified foods with slower digestion and tailored delivery of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract?

Foods promoting digestive comfort, stable blood glucose levels and enhanced satiety boost the feeling of vitality. Degradation of food structure at different levels in the gastrointestinal tract largely influences the physiological responses to foods.

In this webinar we describe how we combine prediction of food digestion through the GI-tract with optimally chosen raw materials and food process development to promote consumer vitality.

VTT combines structural and sensory analyses with in vivo mastication experiments and bolus analyses in order to link food properties with digestion. In vitro digestion models are used for predicting postprandial responses. For example, we have shown that bioavailability of protein from plant materials can be improved by bioprocessing. In addition, viscosity-forming oat fibre can be used to improve satiety promoting properties of biscuits and beverages. The VTT colon model reveals microbial metabolites bioavailable from diets rich in dietary fibre and phytochemicals. For instance, we have developed tailor-made fibres - even from wood - with good techno-functional properties and a slow fermentation rate in the colon model.

Would it be possible to create a 'vitality index' to describe food functionality by combining these predictive physiological models from mouth to colon?