Tailored Technologies for Future Foods: Report 2001-2004

This report summarizes the major features and outcome of the VTT research program "Tailored Technologies for Future Foods" (TTFF), conducted in 2001-2004. The program focused on exploiting of biosciences for specific processing and tailored product quality attributes: sensory quality, health effects and safety of food. It also aimed at understanding consumer food choice and the demands for future foods. The program was organised in research teams working on enzymatic modification of food materials, seed factory, microbial viability technology, encapsulation, structure engineering, physiological functionality and consumers and sensory quality. The total volume of the TTFF Program was 16.2 million EUR. The wide collaboration network covered 18 Finnish university and institute laboratories, and 37 institutions outside Finland. 59 companies and 10 development associations participated in the projects of the program. The research was reported in 185 international scientific publications including reviews and book chapters, and 48 articles in Finnish and 7 articles in trade magazines were published. 8 PhD theses have already been published, 2 more will be defended in 2005 and 3 more in 2006. The total number of theses published during the programme was 24. The number of patents or patent applications was 4. The report summarises major findings in the seven research teams, and gives 16 result cases. The research on cereal technology included enzymatic tailoring of rye, oat and high-fibre wheat bread baking, process-induced increase of rye bioactivity and design of cereal flavour. Enzymatic structure engineering concepts included search for novel cross-linking enzymes, and their use in proteinaceous food materials. Starch-based microcapsulation aimed at controlling stability of bioactive components. Enzymatic extraction of berry juice and especially phenolic compounds was developed, and berry phenolics were studied as selective inhibitors of the growth of intestinal pathogens. Methods for assessment of digestibility and gut bioconversions in vitro were developed. New technology was developed to produce plant-derived compounds in cell cultures, and also to increase and assess viability of probiotic bacteria. Germination was used as a tool to modify seed structure and composition for novel food applications. Consumer perceptions of functional foods was studied as well as perception of troublesome eating among the elderly.