Final Report Summary - NUTRA-SNACKS (Ready-to-eat food for breakfast and sport activity with high content of nutraceutics preventing disease and promoting public health) The project wanted to develop the application of plant cell and in vitro culture systems together with a biotechnological approach to provide facilities for the production of new high quality ready-to-eat food with functional activity useful for promoting public health. The NUTRA-SNACKS aimed at the production of food at high content of natural metabolites with the following recognised health activities: anticancer, antilipidemic, anticholesterol, antimicrobial, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antihypertensive, antiinflammatory and antioxidant activity etc. Many traditional food products such as fruit, vegetables, soy, whole grain cereals and milk have been found to contain components with potential physical health. These components are now being incorporated in new food products. The NUTRA-SNACKS approach utilised various strategies and incorporated a variety of methodologies and disciplines relevant to the whole food production chain. The work wanted to encompass consumer demands for a greater choice and a cut down in the use of some unhealthy ingredients such as saturated fats and greater attention paid to the safety and quality of the raw material used. The involvement of SMEs was of great importance. The results included new products (including improved traditional products) based on innovative manufacturing processes and improved, constant monitoring techniques to eliminate chemical and pathogenic contamination along the entire food production chain. The project considered social and policy objectives where the primary role of a diet is to provide sufficient nutrients to meet the nutritional requirements of an individual. There is now increasing scientific evidence that some food components have beneficial physiological effects over and beyond the provision of basic nutrients. Today, nutrition science has moved on from the classical concepts of overcoming nutrient deficiencies and implementing basic nutritional adequacy to the concept of 'positive' or 'optimal' nutrition. NUTRA-SNACKS research focused attention on the production of food, rich in biologically active components, which have the potential to optimise physical well being and reduce in some cases the risk of disease. The project developed the application of plant cell and in vitro culture systems together with a biotechnological approach to provide facilities for the production of new high quality ready-to-eat food with functional health promoting properties. It should be noted that the project has made moves towards improving the industrial economical balance by an enrichment of the production chain, offering on the market a wider range of new high quality ready-to-eat products suitable for breakfast, snacks and as nutrition for sportsmen and women. Common spin-offs between the SMEs and the research institutes will help in the future commercialisation of the agro-food product with the long-term strategic objective of promoting human health. The information produced by well designed nutrigenomic studies by NUTRA-SNACKS will be of the most importance in the improvement of dietary advice, functional foods, and / or dietary supplements for which there is an independent and substantial scientific agreement on intakes for maximum benefit / minimum risk for substantial or specific groups of the population. The technology developed as part of the project has been applied in only a few cases in the production of commercial compounds. Unfortunately, industrial processes started at a time when basic knowledge (on both plant vitro cultures and secondary compounds) was severely lacking. It is astonishing to realise that a key problem like cell viability, and its assessment, has only been studied recently in plant cells, whereas this topic has been studied for a long time in animal cell cultures. Also, secondary metabolites are produced following long biosynthetic pathways that can involve dozens of enzymes. This synthesis is much more complex than in the case of recombinant proteins which are produced by mammalian or prokaryotic biotechnologies, which usually involve one or two genes. This can partially explain the delay of plant cell and tissue cultures to reach the market compared to other expression systems. A second drawback is the economic feasibility of plant cell and organ cultures. Indeed, this technology requires high-cost bioreactors associated with aseptic conditions that are expensive to maintain. The future impact of functional food will increasingly be about how it affects our health and well-being. Everyday food products will be adapted to better prevent disease. Marketing concepts will play on people's concern about their health and disease risks. They may even promise help in diagnosing medical conditions. This scenario is fundamentally different from the marketing and sale of traditional food. Control trials in this direction are underway and will be considered by NUTRA-SNACKS by the application of specific controls. Related documents Final Report - NUTRA-SNACKS (Ready-to-eat food for breakfast and sport activity with high content of nutraceutics preventing disease and promoting public health)
