Descripción del proyecto
Compuestos bioactivos que inhiben la digestión del almidón reducirían los niveles de glucosa en sangre
Los niveles elevados de glucosa en sangre después de comer (glucemia) pueden aumentar con el tiempo el riesgo de desarrollar enfermedades cardiovasculares y diabetes de tipo 2. El almidón, presente en el pan y la pasta, tiene un efecto directo sobre la glucemia, ya que la cantidad de glucosa liberada durante la digestión es proporcional al almidón consumido. Dentro de una comida, la digestibilidad del almidón depende de las interacciones con otros nutrientes. Los polifenoles y los carotenoides son compuestos bioactivos presentes en los tomates que pueden reducir o retrasar la digestión del almidón y son un aditivo prometedor para los alimentos ricos en almidón. Con el apoyo de las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, el equipo del proyecto BIG investigará los efectos de una pasta de tomate rica en estos compuestos bioactivos sobre la digestión de los alimentos ricos en almidón tanto «in vitro» como en una muestra de población.
Objetivo
Combining nutrients that act synergistically and have potential to lower postprandial glycaemia is an important dietary strategy that can reduce the risk of developing non-communicable diseases. Within a starch-based food matrix, like bread, the presence of bioactive compounds (polyphenols and carotenoids) can lower or delay starch digestion, and therefore the postprandial glycaemic response. This shows potential for development of bioactive-rich starchy foods, as an alternative to conventional high-glycaemic foods. Variations in dose, form and processing can result in bioactive-rich functional foods with different glycaemic potencies, thus further studies are needed to determine the role of polyphenols and carotenoids from tomato during digestion.
The aim of this project is to determine the impact of polyphenols and carotenoids from tomato (naringenin and lycopene, respectively) on nutrient accessibility and impact on glycaemia.
I will investigate the interaction of naringenin and lycopene from an organically grown tomato paste enriched with tomato skin, previously developed by the host group, with starch and starchy foods. Nutrient release from a food matrix and digestion will be measured in vitro at a micro- and macrostructural level, using a single-enzyme digestion system and the INFOGEST standardised static digestion model. To determine the effect of naringenin and lycopene on glycaemia, I will use biological samples from healthy study participants collected before and after 4-week intake of tomato enriched paste, from an ongoing dietary intervention study in the host group. The use of tomato by-products (skin) is a sustainable option to fortify foods, providing added value to scraps without post-harvest extraction of bioactive compounds. Results from this study will provide new mechanistic insight into how tomato bioactive compounds modulate starch digestion and new fundamental evidence on their influence on glycaemia.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinador
08007 Barcelona
España