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Harnessing the microbial potential of fermented foods for healthy and sustainable food systems

Project description

DEENESFRITPL

Time to attribute health benefits to fermented foods

Food and beverage fermentation dates back 7 000 years. Despite this long history, we know very little about the benefits of such a diet. The EU-funded DOMINO project will study the health impacts of a diet based on fermented food (milk kefir) on a healthy population and a cohort suffering from metabolic syndrome to better focus on health biomarkers and inform dietary recommendations. We are also missing strategies to ensure food production sustainability. The project will thus carry out six plant-based fermented food case studies within the framework of citizen science. These food prototypes will help to develop an open-access database and new computational tools for profiling food microbiomes’ metabolic interaction during food fermentation and their overlap with the healthy gut microbiome.

Objective

European consumers are expressing a clear demand for healthier and more sustainable food. Fermented foods (FFs) have the potential to meet these expectations but there is a need to demonstrate their health impacts scientifically, while developing innovative strategies to tackle both sustainability and nutritional health. In this frame, DOMINO will investigate the health impacts of FF-based diet on a healthy population and a cohort suffering from metabolic syndrome to better focus on health biomarkers. We will provide tailor-made microbial solutions using an integrated ‘omics’ strategy and computational biology modelling to address the challenges associated with sustainable food production and healthy nutrition. In six food case studies, selected as representative of the wide diversity of plant-based FF prototypes, we will involve key stakeholders in a multi-actor approach. These objectives will lead to key results: the characterization of the health effect of milk kefir; the application of diagnosis tools based on healthy microbiome/human biomarkers to inform dietary recommendations based on FF for people with metabolic syndrome; the development of an open access database and new computational tools for profiling food microbiomes metabolic interaction during food fermentation and their overlap with the healthy gut microbiome; the delivery of a research and innovation workflow to facilitate the smart design of functional healthy FF, bio-waste valorisation, sustainable processes on plant-based food case studies using the leverage of food microbiomes’ biodiversity; all supported by a federation of key stakeholders and citizens through several living labs and a tailored dissemination strategy. Together we will develop and move towards a vision of the future of FFs in Europe while enhancing the trust of citizens in the food value chain through their involvement and genuine integration of their perspectives, paving the way for citizen-friendly innovation.

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Call for proposal

HORIZON-CL6-2021-FARM2FORK-01

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Funding Scheme

HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

Coordinator

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE POUR L'AGRICULTURE, L'ALIMENTATION ET L'ENVIRONNEMENT
Net EU contribution
€ 2 801 033,75
Address
147 rue de l'universite
75007 Paris
France

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Region
Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Other funding
€ 0,00

Participants (19)

Partners (1)

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Last update: 4 May 2023

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101060218

European Union, 2023