Developing ingredient-product compatibility to enable the design and commercialisation of healthier staple-food products
Lead Research Organisation:
Institute of Food Research
Department Name: Food Innovation and Health
Abstract
Pulses are an affordable source of starch, protein and fibre, and have slow-release properties of potential nutritional benefit to consumers, notably improvements in glycaemic control and lower-bowel health, but are underutilised in the UK. With the increasing prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases (e.g. type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease), there is an emerging market for functional ingredients and foods; however, few products exist which exploit the natural beneficial properties of pulses. This project builds on new research showing that a novel method of processing pulses results in a food ingredient with enhanced nutritional properties. The focus of this project is to understand how the ingredient is best used in everyday food products to deliver a realistic and acceptable product with added health benefits. Ultimately, this project could lead to the development of a new generation of functional foods specifically designed to deliver slow-release energy and prebiotic effects.
Publications
| Title | PulseON logo |
| Description | Graphical design logo for PulseON |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | Has been used on product concepts and engagement with industry and the public to support communication of the inrgedienmt concept. Consumer feedback was positive and many reported that to them the artwork symbolized health, beans and energy. |
| Description | We have developed a new functional food ingredient from pulses, which fits into major consumer trends for natural and healthy, gluten-free and slow-release energy plant-based food products. The ingredient contains high levels of Type 1 Resistant starch which is expected to have a low to medium effect on blood sugar levels (glycaemic index). However, because most resistant starch is not thermally stable, we needed to test if the ingredient maintained its desirable starch resistance after it had been processed into a food product. We also needed to assess if products made with the ingredient would taste nice and appeal to consumers. We have now incorporated the ingredient into many different food products and measured the starch digestibility and sensory properties, which helps to predict which products are most suitable for human studies and commercial development. We recently published a paper which demonstrates that the ingredient can be used to lower the glycaemic response to biscuits (Delamare, Food Chemistry X - In press). We have secured IAA funding and industry support to confirmed that the ingredient and product concepts have consumer appeal, and have described the properties of these ingredients and published a patent application and registered a trademark to protect the innovation. Confidential discussions with companies are ongoing, and several manuscripts describing the findings are in preparation or under review. Overall, we now have significant new knowledge about the nutritional and sensory properties of these ingredients, which is helping to reduce the risk for SME investors and progress the innovation to market. |
| Exploitation Route | The outcomes will be used to support commercialisation of these food ingredients, which will ultimately benefit the public, including those following a low glycaemic index diet, who will have access to a broader range of healthy carbohydrate staple foods. The food industry will benefit from new product opportunities in rapidly expanding markets. The work also contributes to promote the use of pulses, which is an important component of the food security and sustainability agenda. In an academic context, the findings are of fundamental importance to understanding the occurrence and properties of resistant starch and pulses, and can be used to understand the limitations, possibilities and positioning of future resistant starch or low glycaemic food products/ingredients. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Environment,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Retail |
| Description | BBSRC IAA |
| Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/S506679/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2019 |
| End | 04/2019 |
| Description | BBSRC IAA The Quadram Institute |
| Amount | £300,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/S506679/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Description | QIB PoC Fund |
| Amount | £9,278 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Quadram Institute Bioscience |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 06/2019 |
| Description | NCFM with QIB |
| Organisation | University of Lincoln |
| Department | National Centre for Food Manufacturing (NCFM) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Expertise on food structure, digestion and nutrition. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Expertise and facilities for food processing, technical know-how, and links with food technology SMEs |
| Impact | Joint funding proposals and research directives and a knowledge exchange meeting |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Title | MEDIUM/LOW GLYCAEMIC INDEX PRODUCTS AND METHODS |
| Description | The invention relates to a process comprising (a) providing a quantity of plant material; (b) heating the material of (a) in aqueous medium to a temperature of 75 to 105 ºC; (c) physically disrupting the material of (b); (d) processing the physically disrupted material of (c) to enrich for cells and/or cell clusters; and (e) drying the material of (d). The invention also relates to a product, which comprises at least 30% or more intact plant cells, which comprises 15% or less water by weight, which has a particle size in the range 75 - 500 µm, characterised in that the product comprises at least 30% resistant starch as a proportion of total starch. The invention also relates to foodstuffs. |
| IP Reference | WO2019155190 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2019 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | It is still too early to report on any impact, but progress has been made in identifying potential food products that could be developed using the novel legume powder ingredient. |
| Title | PulseON |
| Description | A graphical design and trademark for PulseON - a new functional food ingredient. |
| IP Reference | |
| Protection | Trade Mark |
| Year Protection Granted | 2019 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | The trademark is already being used to aid communication with consumers/industry, but it is too early to report on the impact of this. |
| Description | CCG representatives visit to discuss collaborative opportunities for food and health research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | CCG representatives visited the Quadram Institute to get to know the clinical trials and research related to cereals and glycaemic response. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | CE invited speaker at International development/life sciences symposium: Interdisciplinary alliance for capacity building |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Symposium attended by approx. 30 people from different disciplines with different expertise (gender, diversity, social science, healthcare and nutrition) most of which had not met previously. The work presented highlighted work from the Edwards Group which demonstrates the importance of considering nutrient bioacessibility and bioavailability when promoting certain crops or foods for improved nutrition. This led to discussion and new ideas about how these disciplines can begin to collaborate to address development-related issues in LMICs. The post-doc and PhD societies who are involved in international engagement reported an interest in expanding their scope to cover nutrition and food themes. Several members of the audience reported that they were not aware of nutritional concepts presented. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Diabetes primary care regional event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | A working group meeting for diabetes care where a presentation on carbohydrates, nutrition and ingredients sparked further discussion about role of primary care providers in providing nutrition advice to patients, and how patients can become more involved in transnational research that aims to deliver healthier carbohydrate food products |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Food Matters Live |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Purpose was to get an overview of trends in functional food ingredients and consider how novel ingredients being developed as part of transnational research could fit in |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | IFST meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation about food structure, how it is altered by processing and the nutritional implications. This sparked questions and discussion around processed foods, and media portrayal of nutrition. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Ingredient Ideation workshop with industry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | An industry engagement workshop to identify opportunities for ingredient positioning with business needs and market trends |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Norwich Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Stands at Science Festival with interactive exercises and they learned about food, how to use a microscope etc. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Product Scoping Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A facilitated workshop for development and refinement of consumer-driven product concepts, which led to subsequent decision on the ingredient name and winning product concepts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Product Scoping Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A facilitated workshop for development and refinement of consumer-driven product concepts, which led to subsequent decision on the ingredient name and winning product concepts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Product Scoping Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 11 people participated in an workshop facilitated by food industry with the aim of developing product concepts for new food ingredients.This led to lots of discussion and thinking about products from consumer points of view. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Westminster Health Forum Keynote Seminar: Improving diabetes outcomes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The meeting was a review and discussion about diabetes care policy. Own views about how science can influence policy were changed - the needs of diabetes patients are so urgent that the policy and practice is changes before the science. This will impact on future pathways to impact plans for research with applications in diabetes care. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Youtube video on nutrient release from legumes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Youtube video describing the importance and nutritional potential of legumes. 142 views and 8 likes so far. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J2gwKw5tkY |