Exploring opportunities for commercialisation of a leguminous product of potential benefit to health
Lead Research Organisation:
King's College London
Department Name: Diabetes & Nutritional Sciences
Abstract
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People |
ORCID iD |
| Peter Ellis (Principal Investigator) |
| Description | A confidential pathfinder report on the assessment of the commercial opportunities for a novel leguminous ingredient with potential health benefits has been produced. Part 1 of this report contains the market and regulatory assessment; Part 2 contains the literature and intellectual property assessment. The report also included a recommendation for further work (business development plan), which formed the basis for the Standard Follow-On-Fund application. The conclusion of these assessments was that there is a clear opportunity for the development and commercialisation of the proposed ingredient. Overall, the funds invested in the Pathfinder project (2 months) have provided confidence that the proposed novel ingredient has a significant potential for successful commercialisation, and has provided direction and focus for further work. The identification of business challenges and key market trends has enabled a robust business-plan to be developed, which includes recommendations for further work to enhance the prospect of commercialisation. Meetings have been held during 2019-20 between the researchers and the food industry to investigate potential food products that could be produced with the new ingredients (e.g. cereal product sector); this activity has continued through the Super Follow-on funding to explore what products could be developed with food industry. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings of the BBSRC pathfinder report provides essential information that will maximise the chances of successful commercialisation of a novel food ingredient that will be of direct benefit to public health. Such an ingredient is likely to be of benefit to the general public with regard to supporting the dietary prevention and management of diabetes and obesity. A BBSRC-funded Follow-On project demonstrated the capacity to produce a leguminous ingredient on an industrial scale, and further experimental work confirmed the novelty and functionality of this ingredient and also showed that it could be easily incorporated into a range of acceptable food products. Further funding was obtained in 2017 for a Super Follow-on grant scheme. This was awarded to enable further development and commercial exploitation of novel leguminous ingredient with desirable functional properties, which could then be used to produce food products with potential health benefits, such as lowering postprandial blood glucose concentrations. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | The main objectives of the pathfinder report were to (i) complete a market assessment, (ii) gain market insight to understand key trends within the food industry, (iii) complete a regulatory assessment of the technology, (iv) assess the technology and patent landscape, (v) develop a commercialisation roadmap and finally (vi) to compile and submit a full BBSRC Follow-On Fund application and/or pursue the business development plan through commercial routes. A confidential pathfinder report on the assessment of the commercial opportunities for a novel food ingredient with potential health benefits has been produced. Part 1 of this report contains the market and regulatory assessment (addressing objectives 1-3; see above); Part 2 contains the literature and intellectual property assessment (addressing objective 4). The report also includes recommendations for further work (business development plan) and a complementary patent strategy. The pathfinder project has identified several routes to market; however, it will be important to advance scientific understanding of ingredient functionality, in order to identify the most suitable products and work-streams to achieve successful commercialisation. Further funding (Objective 5) was obtained through the BBSRC Follow-On scheme and this has enabled the technology to be developed further in order to meet the business challenges identified by the pathfinder project. Further funding for a Super Follow-on grant scheme, which started in 2017, has been awarded to enable the development and commercial exploitation of a novel leguminous ingredient with desirable functional properties. One of the main aims of this project is to incorporate the novel ingredient into a number of food products that are palatable and have health benefits, such as lowering postprandial blood glucose concentrations, which would be of benefit to individuals at risk to type 2 diabetes. Between 2018-20 several meetings have been held between the researchers and the food industry to investigate potential food products that could be produced with the new ingredients (e.g. cereal product sector). Recent meetings with industry have led to discussions about using the new ingredient in gluten-free bread products. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | BBSRC Follow-On grant |
| Amount | £203,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/M021076/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2015 |
| End | 05/2016 |
| 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 | QIB PoC Fund |
| Amount | £9,278 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Quadram Institute Bioscience |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 06/2019 |
| Description | Super Follow On |
| Amount | £948,864 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/P023770/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2018 |
| End | 05/2020 |
| Description | CE Development and characterisation of a functional food ingredient |
| Organisation | New-Food Innovation Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Physical and chemical characterisation of the functional food ingredient. |
| Collaborator Contribution | New-Food Innovation Ltd (NFI) were involved in developing the technology for processing the functional food ingredient and were also involved in evaluating the safety of the product (e.g. microbiological assessment). |
| Impact | A novel food ingredient with enhanced nutritional properties has been produced using commercial food processing technology. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Postprandial responses |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Department | Department of Medicine |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The research team provided a novel material and intellectual input regarding the properties of this material and also provided gut hormone analysis kits which added value to interpretation of collaborative research findings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ICL collaborators included the novel material in a 3-meal randomized cross-over acute postprandial study in healthy subjects and collected samples for analysis of glucose, insulin and gut hormones. QIB provided expertise and specialist analysis of the test meals used (with and without novel material) in terms of starch digestibility and micro structure. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary collaboration: Disciplines of physiology and clinical nutrition/dietetics provided by collaborator; Biochemistry and food science provided by researchers at KCL and QIB. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Postprandial responses |
| Organisation | Quadram Institute Bioscience |
| Department | Food & Health Programme |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The research team provided a novel material and intellectual input regarding the properties of this material and also provided gut hormone analysis kits which added value to interpretation of collaborative research findings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ICL collaborators included the novel material in a 3-meal randomized cross-over acute postprandial study in healthy subjects and collected samples for analysis of glucose, insulin and gut hormones. QIB provided expertise and specialist analysis of the test meals used (with and without novel material) in terms of starch digestibility and micro structure. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary collaboration: Disciplines of physiology and clinical nutrition/dietetics provided by collaborator; Biochemistry and food science provided by researchers at KCL and QIB. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| 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 | Carbohydrate Quality (Texcoco) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This activity was intended to raise awareness of nutritional assessment and quality of carbohydrates, and encourage interactions between breeders, food processing experts and nutritionists/clinicians to achieve healthier carbohydrate foods. Mainly the audience was from CIMMYT and many were unaware of some of the key concepts presented. This stimulated discussion and requests for further information and guidance regarding methods of carbohydrate quality assessment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Presentation at Food Matters Live |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presented application of research findings to a mixed audience of approximately 30 people. This stimulated questions and discussion with knowledge exchanged between audience members from different background. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| 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 |