sPATIALS3 - Improvement of agrifood productions and innovative technologies for a safer and more secure and sustainable nutrition

sPATIALS3 is a technological and research hub involving 12 CNR Institutes belonging to 4 different Departments and 4 companies. Main objectives will be: obtainment of innovative food products improved for their nutritional and functional properties; provision and implementation of precision technologies to guarantee products quality, safety and traceability; development of innovative and eco-sustainable smart– and active-packaging to minimize and reuse wastes, where possible, and to increase food preservability; provision to consumers and producers of tools for results exploitation.

ALLERGOLINE - Foods and functional cosmetics: characterization of bioactive compounds and their effect on the genome and metabolism

The importance of the bioactive compounds and above all of the antioxidants contained in the food is to be associated both with the ability to preserve the shelf-life of the food, delaying the oxidation of the polyunsaturated fatty acids, and to have beneficial effects against the chronic-degenerative diseases induced by the oxidative stress and aging. The bioactive molecules present in both food and plant extracts can also have a very important role in cosmetics. Antioxidant mixes are frequently used in anti-aging creams and also in after sun creams in order to increase the skin’s ability to defend itself. The project has as its objective the identification and characterization of food extracts and/or plants and their biological evaluation. The products will be analyzed for their total antioxidant power through the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) method, and for the quantification of some compounds (vitamins, polyphenols, flavonoids and flavonols). In addition, the protective effect in the prevention of metabolic diseases on a mouse model with dysmetabolism (hepatic steatosis, hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia) induced by administering a diet with a high lipid content will be evaluated for the products that will show the best results.

BIO VAL BIDENTE - Evaluation of the total antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity of some wheat extracts

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the profile of phenolic compounds, the antioxidant capacity, the antimicrobial activity and the effect on growth of Lactobacillus brevis of 8 whole flours obtained from ancient and modern varieties of wheat, belonging to different species of Triticum (Triticum monococcum L ssp. monococcum, Triticum turgidum L. ssp dicoccum, Triticum turgidum ssp. turanicum, Triticum aestivum L.). The phenolic profile was studied through HPLC-DAD-UV/Vis-FD. The antioxidant capacity was measured by the DPPH and ORAC assay. The antioxidant activity and the effect on growth of L. brevis were measured with the micro-dilution method. Five polyphenols were identified and quantified (resorcinol, tyrosol, caffeic acid, syringic acid and ferulic acid) and all the samples showed an important antioxidant capacity and moderate antimicrobial activity. All specimens revealed a stimulating effect on the growth of L. brevis. The analysis of the main components (PCA) has shown a greater positive correlation between ancient grains and the total content of polyphenols, antioxidant capacity and antimicrobial activity, compared to modern grains. These results confirmed that whole grains can be considered foods with beneficial health effects.

AGRENO

BILATERALE EGITTO - Preparation and utilization of Nano-Propolis Active Compounds, their Biological function and application

The project is part of a bilateral CNR/ASRT agreement and aims to discover the bioactive components of Egyptian propolis, extract them, study their chemical properties and transfer them into microcapsules that could be integrated into some functional foods to improve their quality and shelf life. During the project, a characterization of the main bioactive molecules will be carried out and the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the samples of Egyptian propolis as such, of the extracts obtained by different extraction techniques (water, solvents and CO₂ at different temperatures) and of the microcapsules produced at starting from the extracts. The project offers the opportunity to produce new functional materials using food plant by-products. The microencapsulation of bioactive nano compounds, which can be introduced into food, leads to the potential future development of new functional foods.

ALIFUN - Development of functional foods for the innovation of traditional Italian food products

The main objective of the project is to develop various industrial-scale prototypes of functional foods using food matrices typical of Italian tradition. This objective will be pursued by characterizing the presence of naturally occurring or added bioactive components in the food and through the prototyping of novel foods relevant to the health sector of the agri-food industry.

The amount of funding received from the European Union for the Institute totals €70,592.67. IBBA’s role will involve evaluating the protective effect of a pasta enriched with artichoke flour (Cynara cardunculus scolymus) in response to steatosis induction. The pasta will be supplied by ISPA-CNR in Bari.

The aim of the experimental activity is to verify the pasta’s protective effects, including antioxidant, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory properties, and its impact on drug metabolism enzymes in rats treated with a hyperlipidic diet.

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