BioTransform: Mapping the uncharted human metabolism for novel food bioactives
What is the project?
BioTransform is a multidisciplinary doctoral network (DN) investigating the role of health promoting constituents found in food products (food bioactives), focusing on their metabolism. Even though the role of the gut microbiome is nowadays considered imperative in health homeostasis and disease prevention, the available information regarding gut microbiome-driven food bioactives biotransformations after food intake remains scarce and highly unexplored, even for common food products.
The BioTransform objectives will be accomplished through 11 complementary doctoral projects from 9 education and research entities, with the participation of 6 associated partners from the private sector and one from academia.
Why the project?
Our cohort of doctoral candidates will jointly deliver answers to important questions about the role of plant-derived food bioactives and their metabolites in human health, focusing on gut microbiome-driven metabolism. The basic principle is that the metabolites (the genuine secondary plant constituents), rather than their precursors are the real bioactives circulating in the blood stream and reaching the target organs, contributing significantly to the beneficial health effects of food bioactives. Therefore, the core of BioTransform innovation is to extensively explore the metabolism of food bioactives, to identify their metabolites and finally to evaluate their pharmacological profile. As a proof of concept, the bioactives of two commonly consumed food products, olive products and European blueberry, applied as standardised supplements will be investigated. The olive products (Olea europaea L.), will act as a model for southern European (Mediterranean) dietary patterns, and European blueberry (bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus L.), for central and European dietary patterns. Both products have established activities against metabolism-related pathologies, but the active entities and their effects remain largely unknown.
Goals of the project
The goal of BioTransform project is to combine state-of-the-art methods, technologies and approaches in a complementary and integrated way to reveal the role of metabolism in the digestive tract, and the impact of food bioactives and their metabolites (biotransformation products) on health and disease. To this end, human pilot studies, in vitro and in silico metabolism simulation methods, gut microbiome sequencing, metabolite profiling and metabolomics will be employed.
Funding:
The project is funded by the European Union.
Programme: HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01
Lead Investigators
Prof. Paul Cotter and Dr. Fiona Crispie