Project description
A new natural low-caloric sweet protein
Excess sugar consumption is associated with increased rates of obesity, diabetes, dental cavities, gum disease and many other health ailments. Worse still is that this may result in high numbers of deaths annually and a significant economic burden for healthcare systems. While artificial sweeteners serve as a non-caloric alternative, these are associated with side effects like increased risk of cancer. Naturally occurring sweet proteins in some tropical plants serve as new low-calorie nutritious sweeteners superior to sugar or artificial sweeteners. However, the large-scale production of these proteins faces challenges and limitations preventing their application in the food industry. The EU-funded Milis project proposes a novel protein with low caloric content and without aftertaste and unhealthy chemical components. The product can be up to 500 times sweeter than sugar per gram.
Objective
Excess sugar consumption is a major contributor to the alarming rates of obesity, diabetes, and dental disease that exist in
many developed countries. According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute, close to 400M people worldwide are affected
by Type II Diabetes. 4.8M people die of chronic disease every year, a number that is quickly rising. Costs to the global
healthcare system are estimated at a staggering $470B per year, representing 10% of all the healthcare costs. Artificial
sweeteners offer a non-caloric alternative to sugar but have health concerns of their own, and are not always effective in
maintenance of a healthy diet. However their use is not totally safe. Saccharine, for example, previously used on a large
scale, was abandoned as soon as it was linked with development of bladder cancer. Artificial sweetener consumption
modulates the gut microbiota and raises the risk of glucose intolerance. Sweet proteins that occur naturally in some tropical
plants can have a sweetness a thousand times that of sucrose. This indicates that proteins potentially represent novel lowcalorie,
nutritious sweeteners – superior to either sugar or artificial sweeteners. However, producing naturally occurring
sweet proteins on a large scale is challenging and limitations of their physicochemical properties will constrain their
application in the food industry.
Milis Bio developed “Milis”, a novel protein which will be 200 - 500 times sweeter than sugar per gram. Milis presents low
caloric content, no aftertaste, and no unhealthy chemical components. Milis allows the consumer to think only about how
great their food tastes, rather than worrying about what’s in it. Using a protein as a flavouring guarantees that the ingredient
will be low-calorie, easily digestible, and suitable for diabetics.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies food technology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine endocrinology diabetes
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
P31VW90 CORK
Ireland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.