Propelling health and sustainability through innovative food products and processes 

Sustain-a-bite consortium is formed by an international and multidisciplinary range of public and private institutions consisting of 19 partners and 1 affiliated entity from 13 countries across Europe. 

The SFSRG in UCC transforms carrot pomace and apple pomace into nutritious ingredients by using fermentation. which can be used in a range of food products 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101180399 and by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). 

Investigating different processing techniques to create new ingredients from vegetable waste

Food waste is one of the major challenges in forming sustainable food systems. The Environmental Protection Agency Ireland estimated 753,000 tonnes of food waste in 2021, mainly during food manufacturing and in households. Vegetable waste is high in dietary fibre, minerals, vitamins and polyphenols. This research project will investigate the suitability of different processing tools (drying and milling) to generate ingredients from vegetable waste, which can be incorporated into staple foods, such as bread and pasta. The objectives of the project are to investigate different processing techniques for the development of powdered ingredients from vegetable waste and to understand their physicochemical and techno-functional characteristics to find suitable food applications. Moreover, the nutritional value of the upcycled waste will be evaluated to ensure fortification of staple foods with highly nutritious ingredients to increase fibre content and micronutrients. Preserving nutrients demands mild processing, which is known to have a lower environmental impact. Hence, the novel ingredients will serve to ultimately produce healthy, affordable, safe and environmentally friendly foods, contributing to the UN SDGs and the Food Vision 2030.

This project is funded by UNIGREEN in support of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine as part of the Climate Action Plan.

Sarcopenia in the Older post-menopausal Woman - sustainable Plant protein Solutions 

SO-PLANTS is a multidisciplinary food science project to produce protein based beverages by blending oat, quinoa, pea and fava bean. These nutritious beverages will be designed specifically for the older consumer. This is a growing population group with estimates suggesting 1.6 million people over the age of 65 living in Ireland by 2051. We know that by simply increasing dietary protein in their diet, we can decrease frailty (and sarcopenia) allowing them to live healthier for longer. To formulate our protein beverages, we will look to food consumption surveys to understand the current protein (and individual amino acid) intake levels of the older adult in Ireland. This will inform beverage formulations. Once produced, the efficacy of the beverages will be tested in the laboratory. We will track protein digestion in the gut, the arrival of amino acids into the bloodstream and assess the health benefits to muscle by using in vitro models. The project will go beyond ‘state of the art’ by developing laboratory models to mimic older adult digestion, an aged gut barrier and atrophic muscle cells. Using our beverages, a nutritional intervention trial will be performed with post-menopausal women. Women are the primary food shoppers in Irish households, are more concerned about sustainability, more prone to taste new foods, more inclined to have food rejections and live longer than men. Our long term vision for SO-PLANTS is that the older adult will replace poor quality foods in their diet with our healthy plant based beverages with a knock-on reduction in frailty. By selecting sustainable plants as our ingredients, SO-PLANTS will positively impact our environment and increase biodiversity in Agriculture, supporting Ireland’s effort to meet the EU GREENDEAL target of climate neutrality by 2050.

This project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Ireland. Grant No. 2023RP920.

Ingredient Functionalisation, Fomulation and Processing

The aim of this project is to develop new plant-based ingredients by using (bio-) processing tools which (1) facilitates the integration of plant-based ingredients in food systems, (2) empowers the co-existence of plant and animal proteins in one food system, (3) provides adequate nutritional properties, and (4) causes low strain on the environment.

This project is funded by Research Ireland, Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) via the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) under Grant number 22/CC/11147 at the Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, and is part of Platform 1.3.

Analytical and sensory characterisation of hop-derived components on the mouthfeel and flavour stability of low or no-alcohol beers.

Low-alcohol and alcohol-free beers are expanding markets in many countries. However, the process of removing alcohol (a flavour enhancer) during production or using specific yeasts in the production of low or alcohol-free beers results in reduced mouthfeel, flavour, and aroma. Despite years of research into beer mouthfeel, the terminology, sensory description, measurement options, and relevant compounds remain inconsistently understood. Similar inconsistencies exist concerning flavour stability. Hops encompass various substance classes, with not all compounds identified among the 300 hop varieties. Of significance for mouthfeel and aroma stability are dextrins, peptides, proteins generally, non-polymerised polyphenols, and aroma compounds. Beer properties, such as pH value, residual extract, bitterness, and CO2 content, also influence these aspects. This project aims to analyse all pertinent substance groups and beer-related properties both analytically and qualitatively through sensory assessments. Moreover, it investigates masking and additive sensory effects, employing diverse hop products with different substance classes for testing. The results aim to equip brewing technologists and beverage developers with insights to attain optimal mouthfeel and sufficient flavour stability in non-alcoholic or low-alcohol beers. 

This project is funded by BarthHaar GmbH & Co.KG.

Reshaping nutrition across Europe: Accelerating the dietary shift from animal-based to alternative dietary proteins

GIANT LEAPS is accelerating the transition from animal-based to alternative dietary proteins to work towards a safe, health-promoting and sustainable food system. 

This project has received funding from the European Union's HORIZON EUROPE research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101059632. 

Thermo-Reversing Advanced Nutritional Structures as Fortification Option in Recipes for Malnutrition

The TransForm project brings together a team of multidisciplinary researchers from food science, nutritional sciences and dietetics to develop and test novel high protein thermo-reversible hydrogels to tackle malnutrition and sarcopenia in cancer patients. 

This project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Ireland. Grant No. 2023RP979.