COLORSPORE

"New Sources of Natural, Gastric Stable, Food Additives, Colourants and Novel Functional Foods"

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Functional foods provide a buoyant growth sector and the use of carotenoids is the most dynamic not only as colorants but as food additives. One issue with these products is their instability both on the shelf and upon digestion. Recently, gastric-stable bacterial-derived carotenoid preparations have been discovered by members of this consortium and these 2nd generation carotenoid preparations, and the bacteria that produce them will be studied. Existing prototypes will be developed as potential food additives but an extensive screen for new 2nd generation prototypes will also be made from marine environments. The consortium includes microbiologists, biochemists and food bio-technologists and will determine the identity of new carotenoid preparations and the bacteria that produce them. The nutritional value of these bacteria will be assessed and a risk-benefit assessment made using modern metabolomic technologies as well as traditional toxicology in order to designate the prototypes as QPS (ie, qualified presumption of safety). Bioprocessing of these bacterial carotenoid preparations will eliminate traditional chemical synthesis and the use of organic solvents. Also the delivery system will utilise a synergistic biological matrix making it a sustainable source. The use of these bacteria as colour-nutritional additives will be assessed by process optimisations, colour and texture analysis. The consortium includes 9 partners, including one ICPC and one associated country. Two IND partners, one an SME, will work together to exploit prototypes as additives, colourants and as functional foods. This will include patenting, licensing and the opening of new markets. Both IND partners are looking for new markets in the food additive/functional food sector and this project will enable them to identify new markets. The project will directly impact the food industry by developing new, natural as well as novel food additives and ingredients that can replace synthetic ones.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Carotenoids hold considerable potential to provide health benefits. A research project is investigating how to make them more stable and incorporate them into functional food products.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Occurring naturally in many plants, fruits, flowers and vegetables, carotenoids could be important sources of antioxidants and vitamin A for people. However, food manufactures have had difficulty incorporating them into their products due to their instability, both on the shelf and in the human digestive system.

The EU-funded Colorspore project started after the discovery of a type of bacteria of the Bacillus genus that forms spores that are rich in carotenoids and are able to survive passage through the stomach which is an environment of low pH - the downfall of traditional carotenoids from the functional food industry's perspective.

The ongoing project, which began in 2008, is investigating these bacteria further, assessing their safety and seeing how they can be prepared for industrial use.

The international team, which includes research institutes and industrial partners, started by characterising the different related bacteria strains. They identified two which held the most promise for industrial production and determined their genome sequences and all genes involved in their carotenoid biosynthesis.

The researchers evaluated the two strains - HU36 and GB1 - for safety in animal and laboratory tests and found no cause for concern. Other work found the stability and antioxidant activity of the purified carotenoids in the presence of iron to be superior to both b-carotene and lycopene.

The final stage of the project, due to end in mid-2011, has begun analysing the potential of the bacteria strains as probiotic food ingredients, incorporating spores of HU36 into baked food products and assessing the effects on taste, odour, colour and stability.

With initial results promising, the project is taking a big step in the development of functional food products which can improve health and drive innovation in the market.